Beads, embroidery and light: a project between art and experimental craftsmanship.
Resulting from the research presented during Fuorisalone 2024, the new Habitus lamps combine the ornamental allure of beads and the variegated elegance of typical high-fashion embroidery with the minimal, contemporary character of aluminium structures: a game of contrasts that brings out the refinement of the materials and the purity of forms.
Habitus is a collection that stems from a design approach based on research and experimentation, telling a story of absolute creative freedom. Derived from the research project of the same name presented during Fuorisalone 2024 with Andrea Anastasio, Habitus has been developed by freely moving in the space of possibilities between idea and product, without the typical limitations associated with industrial production. The project continues the investigation of decoration launched with Battiti in 2022, in which ceramics and light interacted to create a new form of expression. With Habitus, once again Foscarini explores new territories, choosing to experiment with unusual materials while triggering interactions of light with the embroidery of glass beads.
To produce this collection Foscarini has collaborated with the artist and designer Andrea Anastasio, and with Arun Jothi and Natalie Frost, the creatives of the atelier Amal, with workshops in Mumbai and Rome, specialized in the creation of handmade embroidery for haute couture. Their research is at the core of this collection, which has deep roots in an age-old technique, but is also continually updated, formulating a visual language capable of activating wonder and stimulating thought.
As Andrea Anastasio explains: “Embroidery can be described as an ancient language, capable of constantly renewing itself to generate wonder and thought. Habitus puts the focus on this handicraft whose origins date back to remote times. The modular character of the architecture that underpins embroidery and the reiteration of the gestures of the maker form the basis for this project, seen as a way of dressing light and summoning it to emphasize the rich heritage of these gestures, refined across countless layers of time”.
The Habitus research has produced two items that have entered the catalogue: a wall lamp and a floor lamp, in which the ornamental and artisanal value of multicoloured beads in warm, lively hues meets the contemporary minimalism of the aluminium structure on which they are placed. The LED light source brings out the material charm and slight imperfection of the glass beads that cover the structures inside, transforming them into evocative luminous signs in space.
The wall lamp has been designed to be freely hung on the wall, individually or in combinations of multiple parts, creating dynamic compositions of light and colour. The electrical plug-in cable becomes a distinctive detail, intentionally left visible.
The floor version is a luminator composed of two modules with multicoloured beads, positioned against each other and attached to an off-axis rectangular base that brings added character to the composition.
