Benjamin Hubert

will launch his new Heavy Lights this September as part of the 100% Futures show at 100% Design 2008. These 5mm thin walled concrete pendant lamps for Decode London are manufactured by a German casting company. Heavy Lights come in a range of greys and in two sizes, each showcasing how a heavy material can illuminate its very opposite quality-lightness.

Heavy Lights. Designed by Benjamin Hubert.

Hubert conceived of Heavy Lights as part of his Material Centric line, which highlights materials and process as the spark of the design technique. From September 17th through the 24th, Heavy Lights will hang as part of a large installation within the Foundry Exhibition in London; should you be across the pond, catch the full impact of the Heavy Lights by walking beneath them. To have a material such as concrete hang above is proof positive of Hubert’s transformational aesthetic: from the laden raw material (let’s call it a concrete pupa) emerges a weightless light (the butterfly). The fact that Heavy Lights are pendant underscores this innovative reappropriation of material-not only are Heavy Lights overhead, but also they are kinetic (almost in flight, should we continue the metamorphosis analogy).

Many, no doubt, will want the Heavy Lights for industrial lofts-that they lend themselves to such spaces, where underlying structure remains visible, cannot be denied. But the shape and texture of the Heavy Light make it adaptable-from kitchen islands to coffee shops, home offices to commercial libraries, the Heavy Light is classic enough. With its curved (though not bulbous) shape and its matte finish, it can light anything from a Karim Rashid chair to a John Reeves table. Production lights will be available in late 2008, should you be heavy with anticipation.