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4 | David Pompa , Minimal , Kundalini , 2017 5 | Ini Archibong , Hive , Kundalini , 2017 6 | Sebastian Herkner ,
Giass , Kundalini , 2017
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Stefano Bordone The noble matter for light
During Euroluce 2017 , we met Stefano Bordone at the Kundalini stand . We talked about the new directions of his company , the lighting market and its numbers . Would you tell us something about the latest products by Kundalini ? The 2017 artistic journey of Kundalini begun a few years ago , and its main feature is the connection between the present and the past . We tried to bring the past into the present , following two distinct paths : the first is linked to the use of historical and noble materials under a contemporary light , while the latter uses signs and forms of the past and updates them . The result is the new collection , presented this year at Euroluce , which has all these features . This research started in 2010 , and this year we managed to present it to its best , freeing us from the past perception of the company , which is far different from the present one . This change of direction has been firmly communicated and declared by our products and by our stand . I would like to emphasize that these new routes have been made possible also by the LED technology . In the decorative lighting world , rather than focusing on innovation in itself , LEDs have allowed to experience innovative shapes that were unthinkable with traditional technologies . The world of design decorative lighting has thus been able to follow new routes that were once impossible .
Can we consider the use of rich materials and reassuring forms as symptoms of a now bygone “ crisis ”? I would not know if it is really a symptom of an end-of-crisis , but I agree with this : the undertaken direction towards precious materials and known forms allows us to feel more comfortable . We also have to consider that the crisis we have been experiencing for now ten years is not only an economical one , but also of Western values in general . This , in my opinion , has slowed down the experimentation on the “ futuristic ”, and we have thus turned ourselves towards something more reassuring , something we are more familiar with and that we recognize . By using noble materials and familiar shapes , as we have chosen to do , we created objects that are bearer of psychological well-being and more .
Since the very beginning , Kundalini has devoted much energy to young designers . An investment on the future of lighting design ? One of Kundalini ’ s strategies has always been to focus on young talents , as well as on well-known designers : I believe that , in a product company , the winner is the product and not its author . Of course , a powerful name acts as a marketing lever , but if a lamp has a great success , one rarely wonders who the creator is . I always visit the Salone Satellite , one of the richest hotbed of young talents . I look closely at the proposals of young designers , trying to figure out if there might be the winning product among them . Time has often proved me right , and many products started as prototypes presented at the Salone Satellite and ended up as Kundalini bestseller . This year we have bet on two young designers that we discovered last year at the Salone Satellite : David Pompa , a young Mexican who designed the Minimal and Yuma suspension lamps , and the American Ini Archibong , the author of the Hive Table Lamp . Young people , internationalization , innovation and design : these are the Kundalini winning cards that are not just an investment for the future of light design , but also of the company itself .
INTERVIEWS / LUCE 320 23