12 Lighting Designs Reference Forests, Mushrooms, and More

April 12, 2023

Lighting designs still echo escapist fantasies sparked by the pandemic shutdown: Mushroom-strewn woodlands and gleaming virtual worlds continue to inform shapes and finishes.

By: Kelly Beamon

Lighting designs still echo escapist fantasies sparked by the pandemic shutdown: Mushroom-strewn woodlands and gleaming virtual worlds continue to inform shapes and finishes. The 101 Copenhagen Fungus table lamp features a shroom shape (above); Rosie Li x MONDAYS’ Pilar collection has a softer reference in its lichen patterns. Other luminaires seem forged in the metaverse because of their dreamy gold finishes from shade to base. There’s also a steady stream of the pared-down and the portable, trends that are direct by-products of a newly flexible and even nomadic office.

ABOVE IMAGE:

Designed by Kristian Sofus Hansen and Tommy Hyldahl, the materiality and shape of this porcelain table lamp channel a mushroom’s biophilic charm.

101 COPENHAGEN

101cph.com

This handcrafted lighting collection sprouted from a collaboration between designer Rosie Li and ceramics studio MONDAYS. The forms mimic Constantin Brancusi’s famous sculpture Endless Column; the crackle glazing resembles a lichen’s crusty texture.

ROSIE LI x MONDAYS

rosieli.com

A new finish helps distinguish Refractory’s 68-inch-tall, cast-bronze Promontory Standing Lamp. Silver Dollar is a dramatic hand-applied silver treatment evocative of heirloom silverware.

REFRACTORY

refractory.studio

Though it looks shroom inspired, this combination sconce and shelf is actually based on architectural domes. Made of aluminum and acrylic, the LED is also available as a suspension, floor, and table lamp.

ESTILUZ

estiluz.com

Minneapolis design studio Prospect Refuge created a reality-bending handblown lighting collection, which includes this sconce as well as chandeliers, floor lamps, and pendants.

HENNEPIN MADE

hennepinmade.com

Part of a collection engineered to maximize illumination and shrink housing size, Micro Doubles features two 1.25-inch LEDs in a single discreetly recessed fixture. Declare label and Living Building Challenge–and Red List–approved.

USAI LIGHTING

usailighting.com

Besides silicon bronze that looks like molten gold, this LED suspension comes in 11 other hardware-like finishes.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HARDWARE

rockymountainhardware.com

Compact and mighty, this seven-by-five-inch indoor/outdoor LED swivels to cast a multidirectional beam, so it can be used as a downlight, accent, wall washer, or sloped ceiling fixture.

PROGRESS LIGHTING

progresslighting.com

At this year’s Euroluce during Salone del Mobile, Tom Dixon is debuting rechargeable versions of his lamps Melt (pictured), Stone, and Bell to work anywhere you do.

TOM DIXON

tomdixon.net

Extending the Diesel Living with Lodes collection, this portable LED table lamp (named for the construction rod that its steel stem resembles) has eight hours of battery life and an optional cart for recharging 18 at once.

DIESEL LIVING WITH LODES

uk.diesel.com/en/living/

Foster + Partners designed this workplace-friendly portable for Artemide, which features a 32-hour run time.

ARTEMIDE

artemide.com

These lamps are bronze sculptures from a collection designed by Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, and made of cast-off screws, bolts, and faucets melted and then cast using traditional African techniques by bronzesmiths in Burkina Faso.

MAISON INTÈGRE

maisonintegre.com

Photography: COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS

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