Drama Queens: 15 Dramatic Designer Chandeliers
CURATED
Intricate Beauty, Undeniable Impact
Even in the world of designer lighting, chandeliers are to other lighting typologies what palaces are to a three-bedroom bungalo with main and master bathrooms and a basement that would be finished if someone would finish what he started, Greg.
Ever since the first medieval chandeliers held candles on crossed wooden beams and suspended them from the ceiling of a great hall, designers have tried to draw the eye upwards with increasingly creative, opulent, efficient, and generally spectacular ways to hang lights from ceilings. From the arabesques of Venetian soda glass to the diamond-like refractions of Bohemian crystal, architects and craftsmen have built standards upon which modern-day lighting designers have been able to expand, elaborate, and have fun with.
Check out the list below for an assortment of chandeliers that add something special to various environments. From classic to contemporary, these luminaires all capture the attention of onlookers in their own unique way.
Roll & Hill's Bauer 02 Suspension by Jason Miller
Designed by Roll & Hill founder Jason Miller, Bauer 02 chandelier features handblown tubes of opaque glass that rise from dark to light form the basis of this vertical chandelier meant for high-ceilinged rooms. Powered by a 40W LED and available in black, bronze, brushed brass, and polished nickel, Miller's creation manages to be both subtle and eye-catching at once.
Roll & Hill's Castle 1803 Suspension by Jason Miller
Though its name hearkens back to the buildings for which chandeliers were invented, Miller was inspired by the movements of the rook--or castle--in chess, which can move any distance, but like the tubes of glass projecting out from small cones of bronze, brushed brass, or polished nickel, only in straight orthogonal lines.
Terzani's Atlantis Suspension 3 Tier by Barlas Baylar
When chandeliers first started getting elaborate, their arms and balusters would sometimes be draped in ornamental garlands called festoons (hence the use of the term as a synonym for "to decorate"). New York lighting designer Barlas Baylar's Atlantis collection for Terzani is all festoons. Highlighted in Wallpaper's 2018 Design Awards issue for its organically marine form, Atlantis 3 Tier chandelier's hundreds of illuminated lengths of nickel chain look like they're not only floating, but propelling the light itself.
Terzani's Epoque Suspension by Stefano Papi & Savis Yaghmai
Where Baylar's design is reminiscent of a sea fauna, Stefano Papi and Savis Yaghmai imbued Epoque chandelier with a more floral nature, its flowing lines redolent of an especially elaborate kelp undulating in a current.
Terzani's Volver Suspension Round by Studio14
In Volver Round chandelier, Diego Bassetti and Andrea Panzieri of Milan's Studio 14 have created a nickel version of a cup running over with the Volver suspension light. Lit by 45W LED and also available in black nickel, gold, and bronze, this Terzani design is luxurious without being ostentatious, making it as at home in a kitchen as a ballroom.
Brand van Egmond's Delphinium Suspension Round
LED bulbs and reflectors nested in twisted steel create Delphinium Round chandelier's bramble effect, which marries horticultural and industrial themes into a unique confabulation. Amsterdam-area atelier Brand van Egmond, founded in 1989 by architect William Brand, known for its unconventional brilliance, doesn't disappoint with Delphinium.
Brand van Egmond's Love You Love You Not Suspension Round
Coruscating steel roses in a brier of tubing, dotted with petal shaped LED bulbs and pendant crystals is as close to a hanging plant as chandeliers get. Yet Love You Love You Not chandelier is meticulously and cleverly wrought, with happy and sad faces hidden on petals behind each rose.
Brand van Egmond's Nightwatch Suspension 140cm
Though on the face of it an homage to one of the most famous of all Dutch paintings, the design of Brand van Egmond's Nightwatch chandelier is anything but obvious. The essential lines reach back to Rembrandt-era copper chandeliers, and the elements of Nightwatch are flat like a painting - but in their arrangement, they form what amounts to a three-dimensional image of chandelier.
Limbo Suspension Trapeze by Kenneth Cobonpue
With the diffusers giving a weighty counterbalance to the light-as-air artist herself, Limbo Suspension Trapeze is rendered in floral mesh. Devoted to his home of Cebu, The Philippines, Kenneth Cobonpue interweaves traditional Philippine craftwork with daring artistic experimentation to create designer lighting and furniture that is utterly unique. The breathtaking lightness and expressive form of the Limbo collection of lights are proof positive that Cobonpue, as an industrial designer and through his eponymous brand, is at the top of his game.
Parachilna's Babel T GR Suspension Light by Stephen Burks
The first Black winner of the US National Design Award in 2015, Stephen Burks has collaborated with Roche Bobois, Ligne Roset, and Harry Winston among many other luxury design brands. With the Babel collection of suspension lights for Parachilna--a Spanish company named for an Australian town--Burks has created a stunningly modern yet timeless design family.
Available in several preconfigured variations, the Babel collection is comprised of a set of black and gold modules of anodized aluminum that can also be combined in any number of custom configurations.
Parachilna's Aballs Suspension Chandelier 12 by Jaime Hayón
One of Parachilna's three launch collections, Jaime Hayón's Aballs collection is as simple as it is evocative. Aballs Suspension Chandelier 12 collects the distinctive Aballs lamping elements into a grand statement, which hangs like a concentrated snow squall--its 24 30W LED bulbs embraced by metal, ceramic, steel, and glass.
Innermost's Panel Suspension Lamp by Steve Jones
The dense collection of panels both polished and matte serve to shade, reflect, and diffuse light in Panel suspension light, which was created for Innermost by lighting designer Steve Jones based on inspiration from jewelry and architectural cladding.
Baccarat's Zenith Noir Suspension by Philippe Starck
A collaboration of one of the world's foremost designers with one of the world's most renowned makers of crystal and glass, the traditional Zenith chandelier is luxurious enough on its own. But the decision of Baccarat and lighting designer and polymath Philippe Starck to render it in black crystal takes the drama to an entirely new level. You can customize the elegant and dramatic profile of Zenith Noir chandelier by hanging it with or without its black shades.
Baccarat's Zenith sur la Lagune Suspension Yellow Deers by Philippe Starck
Another member of the Zenith family, in Zenith sur la Lagune Suspension Yellow Deers chandelier Starck gives himself playful rein as he incorporates clear crystal deer-head shapes in acid yellow among eighteen black and gold leaves of Murano glass. This playfully elegant luminaire can be customized both in colour and choice of animal.
Baccarat's Tuile de Cristal Futur Deco Suspension by Arik Lévy
The final chandelier in our review, Arik Lévy's Tuile de Cristal Futur Deco suspension light for Baccarat is a paradigmatically grand and dramatic chandelier. This resplendent piece demands attention and commands a room; whether specified in three levels, in the ten pictured above, or any of the sizes between, this edifice of Baccarat crystal built on an infrastructure of hidden steel is the height of elegance and decadence.
Unleash your inner drama queen by adding an opulently luxurious designer suspension light to your lighting plan with LightForm! Explore our collection of chandeliers online or reach out to a representative at one of our offices and showrooms in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Kelowna, and Winnipeg for help finding the perfect designer lighting for your home or project.