WORDS Gina Dionisio PHOTOS Supplied
The world’s largest residential chandelier has been designed by Cape Town-based leading experiential lighting design studio, One to One by Martin Döller.
This grand lighting piece, showcased to the Cape Town design community at Miles Beyond, will be installed in a private residence designed by the globally renowned architectural firm SAOTA in Lagos, Nigeria.
ARRCC, the award-winning interior studio conceptualised the interiors for the 8000 square metre property in Lagos and pulled in long-time collaborator Martin Döller, principal of One to One Studio to create the lighting piece. “Conceptualising Stemma in the midst of a global pandemic was a remarkable design challenge not only because of the general uncertainty of that time but finding the inspiration and also understanding what the client was looking for – all online – was a new experience,” says Martin.
This sculptural lighting piece, which spans over 15m in length, 4m across, is 6m tall and weighs 1000kg, was conceived and crafted over three years. Martin explains that the final piece, “Stemma, inspired by nature’s beauty, mimics a sun-dappled forest with cascading lights resembling sunlight through branches. Creating a soft, natural glow, bringing the serenity of the outdoors into the home. This coupled with the light being in the centre of a family home also led us to its naming. Stemma – Latin for family tree, echoes how we looked at creating the entire lighting experience. It needs to function in creating homely lighting for cozy nights while also catering to the memorable moments that the client and his family will have.”
Beyond the sheer scale of Stemma, the light will be suspended from a 9m high glass and steel skylight. “There is a deeply technical aspect to creating this. At our studio, we created several scale models of the light to ensure that we got the anchoring, electrical, and other technical components of the piece right. We also spent time innovating with aluminium sheet and tubing, powder coating, and patinas to get the right finish. We wanted a timeless essence to this piece because it will live in a home for generations to come,” explains Martin.
After thousands of man-hours spanning three years, Stemma has finally been completed, marking the next phase of a 15-year journey. “We are a proudly South African studio and look forward to taking our work further into the continent and beyond,” says Martin.
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