‘Signals’ at Galerie Kreo by Barber Osgerby.

Celebrated London-based multidisciplinary design studio Barber Osgerby have debuted a new solo show at Galerie Kreo featuring a series of floor, wall and table lamps. Through Signals, the duo explores the geometry of the cone.

“The form of the cone is perfect geometry, “ remarks Edward Barber, with Jay Osgerby adding—“In technical drawing, Orthographic projection makes use of the conical form to define the view of the object we are drawing. It is a code that is deeply embedded in our minds.”

The exhibition marks the studio’s first solo show with Galerie Kreo, which began working with Barber and Osgerby in 2016 — a partnership that has, to date, created work including the Hakone family of furniture. Signals is the first lighting collection developed by Barber Osgerby for Kreo, with each lamp in the collection created using two principle materials, two pure shapes, and two different forms of making.

Related: Mitate Lighting Collection by Studio Wieki Somers.

Throughout Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby’s careers, cones have been a recurring motif in their design work. “There are fragments from many different parts of our past work that have come into creating these objects,” says Osgerby. “Colour compositions, making techniques, and familiar forms. Each light acts as a signal for these ideas,” adds Barber.

The structure of the lamps is provided by hand-formed, colourful aluminium box sections. Onto these, large conical shades are affixed with glass mouth-blown by master artisans at the Venini workshops on the island of Murano, Venice. While the aluminium boxes are angular and direct, the Venini cones that bloom from it are delicate, translucent and soft, with the colour of the glass shifting subtly as the thickness of the glass varies across the surface of the shade. “There’s a tension between the industrial and the artisanal elements of the lamps, which we call engineered craft,” says Osgerby. “We’re always trying to work in this space between the sketch and the machine.”

Related: Granule Sculptural Glassworks Collection by LAYER for Punta Conterie Venice.

Central to the collection are a series of totemic floor lamps, which can be rotated to direct light around a room. While one glass shade may provide direct lighting, another lamp on a different face of the aluminium can be dimmed and positioned so as to provide a softer, indirect glow. This emphasis on physical motion within an object highlights the studio’s preoccupation with visual energy and dynamic forms that can communicate and connect with a viewer.

Signals unites these different elements of Barber and Osgerby’s work, bringing together research and making techniques from across the studio’s practice. “Signals is a continuation of themes that have been evolving in the background of our work for some time. It encompasses engineered craft, our love of Venini glass and colour, and our enjoyment of working with light to change a space,” concludes Osgerby.

Related: Pli Lights by French Designer Fabien Petiot.

[Images courtesy of Barber Osgerby. Photography by Eva Herzog & Alexandra de Cossette.]