Reflecting a 21st-century trend in marrying the technically sophisticated with the artisan executed, Herzog and De Meuron’s Boltons combines patented optical technology with hand-crafted glass. The transparent body – created using a traditional technique that includes an air bubble inside the glass – supports an orientable metal disc, 260mm in diameter, matching the height of the luminaire. The total transparency highlights the thickness of the material, which is chunkier in the upper part, becoming thinner on the sides where it stretches.
The form also optically defines the ability to control and move light on the surface. A lens at the base directs the entire light emission upwards (from a 7W LED source), controlling it precisely so that the disk can then reflect it according to its inclination. The geometry of the glass allows a wide freedom of movement for the upper reflector, which is fixed with a magnetic sphere.
The glass, crossed by the light beam, is animated by reflections without losing the eficiency of the optical system. artemide.com