Marc Sadler - Master of Lighting Materials

Marc Sadler is difficult to judge by a form or materials he is using in his designs. For example, the Ghost luminaire created for Simes is a technical and minimalist architectural specimen that looks like a hole in a concrete wall. It is difficult to find a hint of design in it. The Twiggy floor lamp for Foscarini is different: it has soft, rounded baselines, with swaying curved rods, combined with sweeping dimensions.

Sadler is known as the creator of a special material made of Kevlar, fiberglass and carbon fiber, which he used for floor lighting Foscarini. At the time Joseph Forakis released the Havana lamp, Marc was working on a project for a golf club in Taiwan that used carbon fiber.

The founder of the Foscarini factory, Alessandro Vechchiatos hared a problem related to the manufacture of the prototype. He wanted to reduce production costs without sacrificing design.

Designer’s Story

Marc Sadler was born in 1946 in Austria, graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Paris (1968). The topic of the dissertation was devoted to plastic. Sadler came up with logos for Ted Lapidus and Torrente, packaging for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin. Once, while skiing, he set up his ankle due to poor foot fixation with a boot. While the designer was recovering, it was possible to recycle thermoplastic ski boots. This led to work with Reebok and Nike, for whom Sadler designed sportswear. In 1978, the designer moved to New York. In the mid-1990s, the designer returned to Italy. Marc is fond of furniture and lighting design.

Lamps by Marc Sadler

Mite lamp by Marc Sadler

The collaboration between Sadler and Foscarini in the field of lighting brought into life such wonderful projects as Twiggy, Tress, Jamaica. The Mite fixture won the Compasso d’Oro Award and “took a place among designer items” at the Pompidou Center in Paris.

Twiggy lamp by Marc Sadler

Despite the apparent elegance, Twiggy was originally conceived as “something short: a little man, depressing, with a light bulb at the end.” According to the original idea, Marc planned to create a mechanical system. The main elements of the fixtures were a composite ceiling and a curved rod (Kevlar with carbon).

Tress lamp by Marc Sadler

The design of the Tress lamp is inspired by medieval torches. The designer highlighted Tress as a sculpture with a certain light. It is made of polymer tape, which is used in a computer program. Light passes through the lumen in the ceiling. Such an effect is a play of light and shadows, the combination of color and texture as conceived by the designer.

Jamaica lamp by Marc Sadler

Jamaica pendant lamp resembles a horizontal cloud of croissant-shaped paper. The designer was puzzled by the quality of the inverted lighting, thus, a lamp he thought out the technical side of the desired project by himself. A Japanese expert was also invited to create the form, to create the lining of lamps.

Marc Sadler’s lighting is united by characteristic freedom, a game with components, forms, and effects. Speaking of design, he often uses the word “pixel” to describe some elements. For Fabbin, a series of Beluga fixtures was created, popular among designers and customers; where pixels are LED elements located on frames of various shapes. Sadler invented a Drop lamp made of rubber for FLOS, for which he received the Compasso D’oro (Golden Compass) award.

Marc Sadler is a French citizen born in Austria and living in Milan. He speaks two design languages: aesthetic “decorative”, when you can play with shape, size, materials, etc., and “technical” when the main role is given to the function and durability. The solutions for each of the areas are individual and interesting.

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