Arrowstreet Interior Designer Anna Vaivoda won first place in the IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) Boston Section Student Scholarship Design Competition with her Syzygy light fixture.
The competition brief called for students to design an original lighting fixture inspired by the sun and the moon. The design concept for this “Sun and Moon” fixture is inspired by the notion of an eclipse. Whether solar or lunar, this astronomical event, which occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, casts something of a spell over those who witness it. Ancient cultures viewed eclipses through various lenses – Vikings believed it was wolf deities with an appetite for celestial bodies, the Batammaliba of Benin and Togo saw it as a reminder to make peace with families and friends. But no matter the rationale for this darkening of the sun or moon, this phenomenon has transfixed human beings for millennia.
This eclipse-inspired wall sconce, titled Syzygy intends embody the transformative, bewitching character of this rare celestial calibration. Syzygy, named after the formal term for the straight-line alignment of three or more celestial bodies that occurs during an eclipse, articulates the path of the eclipse, allowing the light source to be exposed or enshrouded – or some combination thereof – at will.
Designed for residential and hospitality projects, Syzygy is ideal for sensual, tactile spaces that benefit from and adjustable accent lighting with something of a mysterious air. Imagined applications include mounted above bedside tables, flanking dynamic art pieces in a hotel lobby, or illuminating a sleek restaurant banquette.
The materials for the fixture should call to mind the dichotomy of light and dark as represented by sun and shadow – for our initial conceptual purposes, we assume them to be metals that appear black (blackened steel) and gold (brass).
Topics: Interior Design, #Anna Vaivoda, Lighting, Sun, IESNA BOSTON, STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP DESIGN COMPETITION 202, Illuminating Engineering Society, IESNA