Canadian lighting brand Bocci has opened its first satellite headquarters in a previously disused Berlin courthouse, and filled it with space-sized installations.
The Bocci79 area is described by the brand as “a cabinet of curiosities, a spot for testing new techniques and technologies and a laboratory of fabrication for long term artefacts”.
The 44-room constructing, which was renovated by architects Grüntuch-Ernst, is located in Kantstrasse in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district.
Developed in 1897, the framework was used as a courthouse until 1945 when it became a municipal workplace, even though had been empty considering that 2010.
Related story: Bocci debuts cloud-shaped 73 glass pendant lights
The 2,200-square-metre area is now inhabited with experimental lighting and pieces taken from the 10-year-old design brand’s archive. The six-storey atrium is filled with a hanging installation that contains several pendant lights, surrounded by silver bundles that resemble coral.
Person rooms in the building function distinct pieces, including a tree-shaped sculpture with circular lighting panels held on the end of branches, and a cloud of globular lights.
Other lighting installations occupy total hallways with twig-like structures and hanging branches.
Founder Omer Arbel intends for the area to perform as an archive, studio, lab and production hub. In addition to displaying prototype and catalogue pieces, he has programs to integrate a porcelain and glass factory in the constructing.
This will be open to the public, to motivate them to encounter and understand about how the materials are processed.
“I am open to investigate new tips and artistic directions through collaborative tasks,” stated Arbel.
Arbel established Bocci in 2005 on the outskirts of Vancouver. The company is very best identified for its 28 Series pendant light, which it has utilised to develop a variety of installations, including a giant colourful chandelier at London’s V&A museum.
The designer hopes opening a 2nd space in Europe will let him to experiment additional with his goods.
“I would like to cross-fertilise my very own way of contemplating by getting interdisciplinary in my technique,” added Arbel.
“I have the notion of inviting a scent archaeologists or a quite renowned concert pianist, who would turn the area into a single instrument. I look forward to possessing far more culturally driven tasks here than in Vancouver.”
Earlier this year Bocci released cloud-shaped pendant lamps that had been produced by forcing molten glass into a loose heat-resistant material pillow – creating an unusual surface texture.
