Gridlock 2 Lights and Furniture by Philippe Malouin

London-based designer Philippe Malouin has created the collection of lighting and furniture items called ‘Gridlock 2′, that includes ‘Svetko’ chandelier, ‘Delorean’ wall light, ‘Scarpa’ desk and ‘Luder’ shelves.

“Gridlock revels in its modernism, and with the glittering lattices that are the material heart of the range, the concrete is rendered almost weightless.

It’s still the brassy grid that takes the eye, of course – in the light scattering through the structure of the Svetko chandelier, an inverted pyramid like Stefan Svetko’s office for Slovak radio in Bratislava, and in the intriguing moire patterns that gather in the depths of the supports of the Scapa desk. But what the addition of the concrete slabs brings is this touch, a tactility that the materially sparing grid itself never quite had.

But while Gridlock feels industrial – in its straightforward, platonic forms and the repetitive efficiency of the grid – it is in fact assembled entirely by hand. Malouin’s tribute to the industry-inspired, labour-saving dreams of modernism is paid for in toil. This paradox appeals to the designer – he likes things that are handmade that don’t look handmade, such as geometric Yachiyo rug in chainmail. Malouin’s practice is based on experimentation – he doesn’t use a material that he hasn’t got to grips with directly and played with, or tested to destruction, to explore its properties. His projects emerge from these explorations. They have a thoroughness and care built into them at the lowest level, while still expressing the automated, machined dreams of the modernist flowering.”

Source: Philippe Malouin, via Designboom