NEWS

PLENA: light casts a spell

27/04/2022

The suspension lamp designed by Eugenio Gargioni and Guillaume Albouy is the protagonist of the new displays created by Ferruccio Laviani for Foscarini Spazio Monforte in Milan.

Plena takes its name, form, and seductive glow from the moon. A suspension lamp with unique charisma, which becomes the protagonist of the new displays created by Ferruccio Laviani, playing with light and its reflections in the Foscarini Spazio Monforte showroom in Milan.

 

The setup for Plena takes its cue from the lamp itself, which I have observed, and then tried to understand and interpret – Laviani explains. – Although the form is the most immediate identifying feature, for me the main objective was to narrate the quality of the light, which makes the lamp unique. Just as the moon glows most beautifully during the phase of fullness, so in Plena the indirect light enhances the design, connecting it even more closely to the Indo-European term from which ‘lunar’ is derived, Louksna, meaning ‘reflected light.’ This ‘spell’ was precisely what I wanted to convey through an essential installation, showing the hidden side of the full (Plena) moon by using simple circular mirrors that float like satellites in empty space. A mannerism, almost a gesture of vanity, where the lamp admires itself and offers itself for admiration, without ever fully revealing its distinctive magical side”.

 

Room for light: the installation in Milan aptly narrates the creative verve of Plena and its identifying synthesis of form and function, performance, and poetry. Large in size, but with a dynamic, light presence, it offers dual illumination: reflected on the surface below and diffused towards the ceiling.

 

Plena is a cradle that contains a light source, which like any true essence is invisible to the eye. Capable of completely lighting a room while remaining soft and enveloping, the model is perfect for placement over a table, where it never causes glare.

The fabric – a double sheet in special highly reflective PVC, developed through Foscarini’s constant research on materials – is magical: it suggests a full form, yet it requires no framework, no muscular effort, since it is a perfectly natural gesture. The image changes according to the vantage point, and the lamp’s arched line conveys a sensation of lightness and flight. Plena resembles a sail in the moment it is filled with the wind.