Circle of life | The Radial is a stylish evolution in willowlamp’s range
The start of a new decade has brought with it a wave of inspiration, and with that a collection of new designs from renowned South African lighting company willowlamp.
The Radial is one of the new pieces making its design debut this year. In the spirit of evolution, founder and creative director Adam Hoets has built on some of his existing designs with new interpretations stemming from these existing pieces.
‘The Radial is a logical extension of the Lineal – essentially a round version of this piece,’ says Hoets. The Lineal – one of the brand’s most contemporary and more recent pieces, plays with a more minimal and pared-down aesthetic, an example of how the designer has steadily developed willowlamp’s identity.
The inspiration behind the Radial hails from a similar source to the Lineal – which comes from the idea of creating a textured grid around a repetitive matrix of lights, and adding chain in layers and in different metallic finishes to add a richness and warm glow. Like virtually all of willowlamp’s pieces, The Radial also draws on the natural world. ‘The Radial refers to the eternal, cyclic ring of life,’ says Hoets.
The pervasive popularity of curvaceous shapes in contemporary lighting design is what prompted Hoets to create something along similar lines to add to the willowlamp range. And while Hoets is never one to follow or be guided by ‘trends’, preferring instead to create timeless pieces and innovate in unique directions, he felt the creative urge to play with current typology in his own way.
‘Ring lights are fairly ubiquitous at the moment and the Radial is a kind of response to this popular style. I almost called the design the One Ring after the “one ring to rule them all” in Lord of the Rings, because I hope I’ve created a particularly beautiful version of this form,’ laughs Hoets.
This design has the advantage of being both decorative and understated at the same time, filling a perfect gap for homeowners who want something glamorous but minimal for a contemporary space. Additionally it can be a very powerful light source, courtesy of 56 LEDs.
You can decide on the intensity of light and adjust its strength by using different bulbs – 1W (for purely decorative) or 2W each (a total of 112W). This gives it great versatility and allows it to serve as a stylish piece in a work environment, or take pride of place in a home or hospitality setting.
‘The slender profile makes it really easy to place – a great option for spaces with low ceiling volumes, which seems to be quite common these days. So, it’s a great way to have an amazing light with potentially loads of power, even in a low space,’ concludes Hoets.
