Fascinating material as always, 2023 gives a multifaceted interpretation in total harmony with the contemporary

Starting from light, passing through technology, research, the ecological transition, the made in Italy project and even physics. To arrive at the design.

It is no longer just a question of shedding light, of illuminating, but above all of how to bring light into an environment, thinking about making it intelligent, functional and exciting. Here is a brief review of trends and novelties, to understand where lighting is heading in 2023.

Light is sustainable

Let's start with the key topic: sustainability. We understood that first of all it is a matter of starting from point 0. The materials, therefore, that they are at least chosen with ecological reasoning, within the framework of a modus operandi that we are learning to experience as a challenge and not as a limit.

Signify takes care of it with solutions that demonstrate how sustainability, design and aesthetics can go hand in hand. The PhilipsMyCreation Coastal Breeze lamps, protagonists of the 2023 Fuorisalone, made with the use of the 3D printing technique by recycling fishing nets which, thanks to an innovative circular economy process, thus they see a new light. Recycled and recyclable material, but not only.

There is a wide possibility of customization in 3D printing that brings designers, consumers and companies together in a relational continuum that is good for the heart, as well as the environment. Colors, patterns and sizes can be chosen by customers through a simple configurator designed for contract and private individuals.

In the balance between historical legacy and current research

Another fundamental topic: the relationship between historical and contemporary research. This is the theme of FontanaArte, a company that tirelessly celebrates its responsibility in dialogue with an important past (Giò Ponti is one of its founders) and at the same time proceed confidently in contemporary production.

2023 saw the birth of the new collection of Thea lamps, which continues the research begun with Equator by Gabriele and Oscar strong> Buretti.

The focus is on the relationship between light and curved glass, entering that completely scientific field, optics, which however gives magic and amazement to human beings.

The light that is released upon contact with the surfaces is the essential character of the collection, thanks to the double cap: the first is small and internal, in white opal glass, which has the function of diffusing the light evenly; the second shell, transparent or colored, collects the light and multiplies it inside.

The light that brings meaning

"The Ensō, the symbol of the circle, fascinated me in particular for what it represents, illumination, completeness, everything, nothing.

At that point trying to give three-dimensionality to that gesture was a natural step for me". This is how Enzo Catellani describes his new foray into a poetic, mysterious light, in the natural wake of Catellani&Smith.

The frame is that of Japanese culture, of calligraphy. Understood here as an art of imperfection, as a representation of a human gesture, with all its inaccuracies and uniqueness. Ensō is a design jewel with deliberately imprecise shapes, which here find their way of perception in a three-dimensional reproduction of the art of calligraphy.

Light as an aesthetic abstraction

The materials, once again. For Oluce the goal is experimentation in the frame of a brand that makes research and a small measure of formal abstraction its recognizable signature. If you are looking for the charm of light emerging from sophisticated formal work, Oluce is the right place.

In 2023 the brand experiments with leather. Parallel, by Victor Vasilev is a passepartout product, designed to intercept the most diverse markets and to tackle with some provocation even the sectors most inclined to choose essentiality and discretion rather than spectacular showing off of high end design.

In two heights, with two different chromatic finishes for the lampshade covered in leather (sand and hide), Parallel is a simple, linear, very elegant object. Leather is the unexpected detail, the surprise for those who have attentive eyes and know how to look carefully and imagine mastery, manufacturing expertise and love for formal risk.

Light and that's it: designing the interior

Finally, there is another trend: the organic design of light. Which means transforming a space, filling or emptying it with volumes, playing with refraction to design patterns as ephemeral as the click of a switch (now silent, because it is often on the user's mobile phone).

With Infinitude, a fascinating and convincing site-specific installation during the FuoriSalone 2023 Qu demonstrates that anything is possible when the brand presents itself as capable of meeting the designer and the customer on the level of customization, with a view to collaboration and, above all, great interpretative ability.