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August 7, 2019

Giopato & Coombes | Italy Lighting Brand

For the Designers who are loving Italian lighting brand, you should know this amazing brand – Giopato & Coombes.

Cristiana Giopato and Christopher Coombes (she Italian and he British) first struck up a working relationship in 2004 with the “In Dust We Trust” project; an exhibition that they set up and directed and which led to the foundation of the company InDustReal.A few years later the duo founded an independent, multifaceted studio to find out how their two different cultures might be fused to form a unique interior design product or project. Since their very first projects for Fiam Italia and Guzzini, Cristiana and Christopher have continued to design products for all living spaces, having been called upon by companies such as Living Divani, Lema Mobili, Miniforms, Frag and Glass Idromassaggio. In 2006, they were selected by Patricia Urquiola for the Promosedia award.

Some of their products have won the prestigious Italian “Young & Design” award, featured in various exhibitions and published in print media and magazines worldwide.

In 2012, Cristiana completed a degree in Architecture and her studies have now led to the creation of dedicated interior design and residential architecture department. This has allowed Cristiana and Christopher to create photo sets and exhibition stands for catalogs and fairs, whilst continuing to trust in the fusion of their disciplines. In 2013, they delivered their first private residential commission.

Christiana and Christopher approach each new project from the perspectives and perceptions of the client and buyer to find new solutions and build meaningful connections between the two.

The pair’s designs place value both on industrial and cultural worth and on research via inspirational associations and innovative solutions. They firmly believe that a well-made product should deliver satisfaction throughout its entire life cycle. Because all of this is unpredictable and highly complex, Christiana and Christopher’s work is a continuous journey in which they seek to learn and gain experience through their mission to perfectly combine the focal points of everyday design.

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Giopato & Coombes | Italy Lighting Brand

IN OUR TRUE LIGHT

3 years ago we were missing something. We imagined a more fluid approach to design. A form of total creation from brief to market. We saw the world ever more connected and wanted to embrace positivity. We imagined products born from supernatural daydreams where everything is possible. But can we write our own story?

First, we had to go off the beaten track and break free from the Italian design establishment. Empowering our own independence. But who is going to trust us? What do we need to learn? How do we find the right artisans for our projects?

So we began as always by design, but we needed a product that would unite our passion, both intuitive and rational.

We chose lighting due to the surprise of the immaterial, the multisensorial object that can become magical.

And straight into the exhibition with 2 weeks to develop the LED light bulb because we had to dip the future into the heritage of Murano glass blowing.

In this process, we have learned that we must explore our individual talents without boundaries. It is necessary to evolve and not repeat the same design cycles of the last 50 years. Today we have many routes to market and methods to express ourselves as designers.

We are finally independent, exploring new territories, creating connections that promote human dialogue and expertise, one light at a time.

LOOKING INTO THE DARK

Passion is our only compass.

As an architect and designer we have learned one thing fast: don’t be afraid of the potential of a blank sheet of paper,

which is the darkness when designing light. Out of the blue in 2014 we found ourselves not only designing but also developing and producing our own ideas, with a 2-week deadline following a 6-month journey through the backstreets of Murano, for an exhibition in Milan. It was an unbelievable time which saw us open a huge can of worms! With so many expertise to deal with, it was like two jugglers shifting in the air, directed by passion.

This passion drives us to ardently create, to tirelessly, impersistently investigate into the correct mix of ingredients. The path towards reality is not linear, it is more like a quest, like dungeons and dragons, researching into dangerous potions of materials, machinery, and technology each directed by a master Venetian artisan.

SUPERNATURAL DAYDREAMS

The light turns on and with eyes wide open it feels like magic, like being children again.

This was a turning point for us in our career as designers. An Indian lady with a beautiful Sari came to our exhibition in London and described this moment as she saw our lamps for the first time. Full of joy, almost tears. This is why we love designing for people.

As we wander around the streets of London or Venice or even in our past there are special moments that make a strong aesthetic impact upon us, that we connect to certain lighting conditions and emotional states, like when we were walking along the South Bank surrounded by hundreds of huge soap bubbles. We try and catch them like the dreams in the B.F.G by Roahl Dahl.

These inspirations are dragged towards the physical state by crystallizing them with noble materials, like a counterbalance between material and lightwaves. It is like joining sculpture to experiments into the light phenomenon.

DIPPING FUTURE INTO HERITAGE

We design in layers, merging the excellence of Venetian artisanal manufacturing with the most advanced light engines.

Glass, brass, and marble amongst others are the first concrete representations of our heritage. A closer look shows the complete obsession of details, which makes the object appear to float in the space, and in time. This is possible through hidden inserts of advanced materials and techniques, such as kevlar, aeronautical grade stainless steel and 3d printing.

Light adds a heavenly layer onto the work by emitting positive energy onto both the sculpture and its surrounding. The light source is hidden, protected from view, the delicate heart and soul of the object is somewhat celestial.

We try and disorient in the final layer of Time. A hyperloop that is difficult to pinpoint with lightwaves from the future bouncing off centuries of heritage.

FROM OUR HANDS TO YOURS

We aim to create objects that resist the whims of fashion and trends.

We see an object like a treasure of knowledge, it encloses our latest vision, representing the talents of our international team working in our Studio mixed with the Venetian artisanal expertise passed along from one generation to another.

We enjoy getting to know your needs and desires as our products are open to bespoke interpretations. Together we can imagine possible new solutions, according to your world! This dialog is another important moment of human exchange within our design culture.

Then the moment comes to send you our product, it’s like opening a birdcage and leaving it free to fly! We love thinking about the new human connection created by our lamps all around the world that light up the darkness, depending on the time zone.

So you become the safe haven of our Supernatural Daydream, and we ask you to guard it through the passage of time.

Two people, in love with “making” projects. An architect and a designer. A woman and a man, she is Italian and he is English. Two individuals, intuition and reason: a multitude of visions. Contamination and fusion. One studio: design and architecture, graphics and production, because interdisciplinarity is the fuel that generates creative development.