Architecture students and design professionals will likely appreciate Pablo Reinoso’s latest work for the Japanese lighting company Yamagiwa. Debuted at Euroluce 2009 during Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Stepysteps was clearly inspired by architectural models – something all too familiar for many readers. Composed of extendable slabs of transparent acrylic, the elements stack on top of one another in a step-like fashion, as the name suggests.  Visions of plexiglass, laser cutters and long reviews spring to mind.

Stepysteps. Designed by Pablo Reinoso for Yamagiwa.

Yamagiwa has been producing high-end lighting since 1923, but it was not until three years ago they began collaborating with international designers, expanding their image and becoming an increasingly familiar name in the design world. Ross Lovegrove and Toyo Ito are among the renowned designers who have collaborated with the Japanese lighting manufacturer. Swell, designed by Paul Cocksedge, is a small glass bubble filled with coloured liquid that reacts to the heat produced by the light bulb (the design world’s version of a lava lamp?). The Mayuhana table lamps and pendant fixtures, designed by Toyo Ito, are ethereal spheres created through by combining glass fibers with resin.    Both of these designs were introduced alongside Reinoso’s Stepysteps at Euroluce 2009.  Ross Lovegrove designed the inovative “modern and sculptural lighting system” System X for Yamagiwa in 2008 whose modularity and interconnectivity enables the x-like forms to join together to create a pattern that resembles a mesh net.   

Stepysteps is Reinoso’s second collaboration with Yamagiwa. In 2007, they introduced the Bamboo Light System, “created through the integration of carving and design.” According to Yamagiwa, Bamboo is “an illumination system comprised of light segments that may be combined to build a personal type of lamp for each user. Thanks to BLS combining system, the same segments may be used to build floor lamps, ceiling lamps, and wall lamps.”  Bamboo Light System is similar to Reinoso’s most recent Stepysteps in that both pieces are formally simple but utilize a sculptural language in their designs. 

 For another noteworthy design presented at Euroluce 2009, check out K-Ray designed by Phillipe Starck for Flos.

via MocoLoco