I keep a fairly extensive archive of photos from the past two decades spent exploring the city’s galleries. Time has a way of slipping by before I can feature something I love in what might be considered a timely manner — but there’s no rule against circling back to a standout piece that still feels worth sharing.
Case in point: these luminous, candy-colored chandeliers, which have been were replaced by a different lighting installation since I first spotted them two summers ago at Petzel Gallery on West 25th Street. They’ve lingered in my memory ever since — impossible to forget and far too striking to leave unseen. Now feels like the right moment to finally give them their due: glowing sculptures that read like a constellation, hovering somewhere between chandelier, artwork, and dream. Continue reading Eye On Design: Floating Color – Jorge Pardo’s Lightworks at Petzel Gallery→
Sometimes a lamp is more than just lighting — it’s sculpture, tribute, and design statement all in one. That’s exactly what drew my attention to the Ellsworth Lamp when I first encountered it at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in 2023.
Designed by Brooklyn-based artist and designer Hannah Bigeleisen, the Ellsworth Lamp represents a pivotal moment in her creative practice. Originally trained as a sculptor, Bigeleisen began experimenting with functional objects, and the Ellsworth became one of her first lighting designs — a piece that bridges the worlds of fine art and everyday utility. Continue reading Eye On Design: Ellsworth Lamp By Hannah Bigeleisen→
Completed in 1972 by architect Kisho Kurokawa, Tokyo’s Nakagin Capsule Tower was one of the most radical expressions of Japan’s Metabolist movement. Designed as a living, modular organism, the building consisted of prefabricated capsules meant to be replaced over time — an architecture of flexibility, impermanence, and futurist optimism. In reality, the capsules were never updated. Aging infrastructure, rising maintenance costs, and changing safety standards eventually led to the tower’s closure and demolition in 2022, transforming it from visionary landmark to architectural legend. Continue reading Eye On Design: Nakagin Capsule Tower Commemorative Lamp→
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur has long blurred the line between art, science, and nature — and his sculptural pendant lamp Guernica is no exception. Inspired by the organic beauty of a flower, Lehanneur began by 3D-scanning an iris blossom, digitally manipulating its form, and then realizing the piece in ceramic. The result is a luminous object that appears to bloom midair, its soft, petal-like curves both delicate and defiant. Continue reading Eye On Design: Guernica Pendent Lamp by Mathieu Lehanneur→
Eric Schmitt’sIn Love standing lamp, created for Ralph Pucci, is more than a lighting fixture — it’s a monumental sculpture that radiates emotion as much as illumination. At nearly six feet tall and more than three feet across, the piece commands attention, occupying space like a living presence rather than a decorative accessory.
