Far be it for me to delve into the science of things, especially when the topic at hand seems to be chemically oriented, but I couldn’t resist just a bit of investigation into the acronym “PMMA,” found as an enigmatic appendage to The City H465 pendant lamp by Fabrice Berrux of dix heures dix, “French designer and manufacturer of beautiful lighting forms.” The beauty in the discrete form of City might seem due to its parallel sheets of highly reflective glass, but in fact is owed to Poly methyl methacrylate, “a transparent thermoplastic, often used as a light or shatter-resistant alternative to glass.”

City H465 Pendant Lamp. Designed by dix heures dix.

The Special Effect of a Chemical Equation

In fact, PMMA (otherwise known as C5O2H8) has been around for some time, in various and rapidly progressing chemical incarnations with the pedestrian moniker of “plexiglass.” But this is not your father’s plexiglass, to be sure. Millennial refinements of the material have made it a convincing doppelganger for the chandeliers of the past, an equally reflective and convincingly luminescent twin that’s easier to process, safer to install, and more affordable to boot.

City plays with the iconic image of the mirror to forge a new brand of suspension lamp for the linearly inclined. The piece has an ultra-contemporary aesthetic that will appeal to those with an affection for hard lines and sharp edges. As such, it makes an interesting counterpart for the mise en scene of the modern kitchen, with its reflective surfaces, hard steel sides, and profusion of gleaming chrome. The piece further ups the ante on the technological quotient with its integrated LED strips, the illuminatory innards to City’s PMMA Sandwich—probably not so good to eat, but certainly on the menu if you desire a bit of drama in your suspension lighting, a compelling mirroring motif of reflection both real and implied.