28.280 by Omer Arbel
16/09/2013.
V&A Museum [LON] UK 14/09 > 21/11/2013
metalocus, CANDELA OLIVA, ROBERTO ALÍA
metalocus, CANDELA OLIVA, ROBERTO ALÍA
On the occasion of the London Design Festival 2013, the Victoria & Albert Museum will hold the last work of design Omer Arbel: a huge chandelier cascading from the top of the museum. If you're around London, don't miss it!
Collage. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Collage. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Elevation. Collage. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Image of the transport phase. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
View of the top part. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
View from the hall. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
View of the top part. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Detail of a light bulb. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Image of assembly. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Image of assembly. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Image of assembly. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
Image of assembly. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of Omer Arbel.
View from the hall. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of V&A Museum via Camron.
View from below. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. Courtesy of V&A Museum via Camron.
Poster. 23.280, by Omer Arbel. London Design Festival 2013. V&A Museum.
Enter through the Grand entrance of the V&A and look up. Here you are greeted by the 28.280 custom-made chandelier by Canada-based designer Omer Arbel. Hung from the Cupola, the highest point of the building, the installation spans the vast height of the Museum, cascading more than 30 metres through the centre of the Ceramics Galleries, past the coffered ceiling beneath and finally appearing above the main doorway as visitors enter the museum.
The installation is made up of 280 individual 28 Series glass pendant lamps, each of which is handmade at design brand Bocci’s glass factory in Canada using a fabrication process developed by Arbel. He explains,
28 Series is an exploration of a fabrication process which is part of our quest for specificity. Instead of designing form itself, here the intent was to design a system that haphazardly yields form, almost as a byproduct. ‘28’ pendants result from a complex glass blowing technique whereby air pressure is intermittently introduced into and then removed from a glass matrix which is intermittently heated and then rapidly cooled.The result is a distorted spherical shape with a composed collection of inner shapes, one of which is made of opaque milk glass and houses a light source.
Text: V&A Museum
Date.- From 14th September to 21st November 2013.
Place.- Grand Entrance & Ceramics. Room 141. Victoria and Albert Museum - Cromwell Road, London SW7 2R
London Design Festival.- 14-22 September 2013.
More information
Omer ARBEL
Omer Arbel. After apprenticeships at Miralles Tagliabue Architects and Patkau Architects, in 2005, Omer Arbel founded a multidisciplinary design studio focused on blurring the boundaries between the fields of building, industrial design, and materials research. It has been said of Arbel’s practice that its industrial design works, in both limited edition and mass produced formats, appear to be motivated by larger scale concepts which can only be considered architectural. Conversely, critics have noted that the practice’s built works appear to be inspired by an obsession with the object, the possibilities implicit in the process of making, and the intrinsic quality of materials.
In 2005, Arbel became Bocci’s creative director. His conceptual approach, now fueled by an infrastructure for prototyping, fine craft, manufacturing and distribution, has given birth to a collection of conceptually driven lighting, furniture, electrical accessories and objects, which have since gained significant presence and impact within the design community.
