Meet Michael Anastassiades: Maison et Objet’s New Designer of the Year ⇒ Best known for its incredible lighting designs, Michael Anastassiades elevates the art of combining darkness and light to new heights.
For the January edition of Maison et Objet Paris, the London-based designer, Michael Anastassiades has been selected as the Designer of the Year. Anastasiades launched his lighting brand in 2007 and has since mastered the art of creating simple yet elegant lighting masterpieces. In this article, the Modern Chandeliers blog will explore a bit about the designers’ background and what he is set to present at Maison et Objet.
The extremely skilled designer is known as one of the most poetic and prolific lighting designers of today. Through simple shapes and volumes, the designer has managed to create a rich language where uncertainty and imbalance are embraced. For Maison et Objet’s Designer of the Year, the work of a designer lies in creating a relationship between people and objects.
The Cypriot designer who has been a part of Maison et Objet for multiple times, has already worked for some of the greatest design brands in the world, including B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Cassina, Lobmeyer, among others and his work has been featured in prestigious museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, MAK in Vienna as well as the Art Institute in Chicago.
⇒ Related Article: Discover LUXXU’s Modern Lighting Designs at Maison&Objet 2020 ⇐
In his designs, Anastassiades finds a purpose beyond lighting. For example, around 80% of the time, that lighting piece is switched off, so he makes sure that a certain design is never isolated but its a complement to its besieging environment. For the designer, light is a great source of warmth and the glow that it exudes is what fascinated him the most. In addition, most of his designs are simple, because he believes simplicity encourages curiosity and that ultimately leads to interaction.
Another major aspect of his design philosophy is creating timeless objects, as he finds it important that design is for the long term.
For me, it is important to always show something different, make sure that what I design explores a new idea, uses new technology in a poetic way. I try to approach the practice with generosity and with an awareness of what came before. – Michael Anastassiades
At Maison et Objet Paris, the designer will showcase all of his Mobile Chandeliers together. The lighting pieces will be hanged in a dark space and propelled by motors giving an idea as they are moving as if they were planets. As a result, Anastassiades will once again play with the idea of darkness and light.
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