Industrial design with an artistic outlook: WireLine by Studio Formafantasma

Studio Formafantasma has used only two elements to create WireLine, their latest lighting design marvel – where the power cable has been flattened to resemble a rubber belt that acts as a spine to hold a ribbed glass rod containing an LED. Their second lamp for Flos, Wireline is both aesthetic and functional, a coalition of the artistic and the industrial, suspended from the ceiling.

The scenic and sculptural WireLine is an evolution of the concept that led to WireRing in 2017, both lamps “turning the usually hidden, electric cable into a key element to generate the form, an aesthetic, iconic and performative aspect of the piece in a space,” according to the designers.

“For WireLine, we flattened rubber to make it look like a belt and acquire a key role: supporting the extruded ribbed glass rod that houses the LED light source. We chose these materials in order to create a playful contrast between the industrial feel of rubber and the sophisticated sensuality of glass,” explain Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, Founders, Studio Formafantasma.

Wireline revels in its authenticity, and can be installed as a single piece, or an elaborate string of compositions that still maintain a commanding minimalism. The pragmatic product design fits beautifully in rooms with lofty ceilings, such as hotel lobbies and duplexes, and makes itself comfortable in smaller environments too, such as a residence or an artists’ open-air den.

“A careful mix of technology and emotions, industrial production and craftsmanship, enhanced by an artistic approach,” WireLine in its form and materiality explores the disparity of the industrial personality of rubber and steel against the sophistication of clear glass. A compact and homogeneous illumination is provided due to this ribbed light diffuser.

“Every author has an obsession. Ours is light,” explain Trimarchi and Farresin. “We explored it with independent projects and then with Flos: with WireRing first, and now with WireLine. What we love of light that it is intangible, but also technical and emotional. And it is one of the few fields of design that has been recently completely transformed by an important technological innovation: LEDs have changed the rules of the game in terms of design, use and human experience. This shift has turned light into a territory for pioneers, and the most exciting exploratory field for design,” they add.

WireLine thus fulfills the ambition of reducing a lamp to its essential components, of creating a shape and presence that stem solely from the light source and the power conductor. – Studio Formafantasma

Requiring nominal storage space due to its light dimension, WireLine comes in two colour variants - pink and forest green - with a dimmable LED module (45W - 3100lm - 2700K - CRI90). The suspended lamp has a long and thin body made of a soft touch rubber strap with two metal conductors (an electrified and a mechanical one) that clasp the extra-clear, fluted, borosilicate glass bar. Its length can be adjusted as per the height of the ceiling, extending between two–eight meters. “The lamp is completed by two ceiling roses, one of which is placed in correspondence with the light point and contains the power supply and the dimmer (Push, DALI, and 1-10V),” explains the studio based in Amsterdam.

WireLine was first previewed at Salone del Mobile 2019 and at miart Milan, illuminating its VIP Lounge, and is now available globally.