I once trespassed onto a National Park at midnight to see an eclipse. It would have been my first time stopping to see one if we hadn’t been chased out and ticketed by the rangers. I know, most people think it is absolutely crazy that I’ve never seen one, but suffice it to say, I’ve never felt any sort of pull toward the understanding of the moon or our solar system that goes beyond what I’ve learned in school. Thanks to the Dutch design duo of Oskar Peet and Sophie Mensen, their representation of a lunar eclipse finds its way into the lighting design world with their design of the Syzygy lamp.

Syzygy lamp. Designed by Oskar Peet and Sophie Mensen.

An Illuminated Lamp in Three Eclipse Lighting Forms

Named for what they’re saying is “the sun and its surrounding celestial bodies”, I now have the chance to appreciate a miniscule representation of an eclipse without risking a fine in the state of Washington. The three-piece series of Syzygy lamps are designed by Peet and Mensen on behalf of their OS ∆ OOS design studio based in Eindhoven.

Derived from its name, which refers to ‘a straight line configuration of three celestial bodies in a gravitational system,’ the Syzygy collection comprises two table and one wall light models. They each work to demonstrate a different point during a ‘syzygy’, or an eclipse: transit, occultation and the eclipse itself. As the designers say of the inspiration behind a light series, “The sun was our first and only light source, in contradiction to the light sources we have today the sun is a continuously never ending burning ball of fire,” they explain, connecting us deeper to our natural light source in the sky before explaining their fixtures.

“These new lights are inspired on the same principle, the light source is constant, remaining always on. The light is adjusted by a subtle rotation of three light filtering discs places in front of the light source. The rotational combinations of these three discs mimic the effects of a syzygy.”

via Daily Tonic.

About the Designers: Oskar Peet and Sophie Mensen are designers who graduated together in 2009 from the Design Academy Eindhoven. From there, they started their joint firm in 2011, entitled OS & OOS, and have pursued work that allows them to express the simple to the complex – exhibiting great use of materials – like concrete and glass – and the communication of natural form through their lighting and other product designs.