Time has passed in a blink of an eye in the past few years.
Yet, time flows slowly when we are staring up at the sky and the sun.
The soft whispering light of dawn,
The burning flame during the day,
The warm encompassing light of sunset,
Has reminded us of our distant loved ones countless times.
The fact that we orbit around the ever-changing sun, which shines on all of us,
reminds us that we are spending time together on this planet.
The sun is our hope- it is at the center of our orbit, and shines equally on us.
The unique change of light in this work is made possible with the special shape of the glass shade. The exterior is a simple cylinder shape, but the internal structure has a cross-sectional shape inspired by convex and concave lenses, and the light inside changes seamlessly according to the magnified and reduced image. The way the light changes from moment to moment while the viewer circles around the shade embodies our perspective of orbiting around the "sun".
At the center of the shade is a light guidance rod made of acrylic with a special functional coating, creating an expression different from that of a normal light guidance rod. When the light is turned on, the detail of the glass is clearly revealed by the light inside, and when the light is off, the light guidance rod blends into the glass, creating a landscape that brings out the beautiful colors of the original material.
The metal parts that hold the glass are made of aluminum to dissipate heat. After being precisely processed by machine cutting, they are anodized and produced in two colors, aluminum color and tantalum gray, to match the color of the glass and light. Also, the units can be joined together to extend length. The stretching line is a universal design, and also depicts the designer’ s idea of a strong and impactful linear sunbeam.
The glass shades are made of 100% recycled glass from waste fluorescent tubes and cathode ray tubes that have been carefully and properly processed. The casting technique, in which hand-melted glass is poured into a custom mold, creates a unique shimmering effect on the glass surface, and the natural, rough bubbles of the recycled glass give this piece a richer expression to the light. The waste fluorescent tubes have lime green, and the waste cathode ray tubes have ash blue nuances to their color. Inspired by the sun, “daylight” white light of approximately 5700K (Kelvin) and “sunset” light of less than 2000K are composed to match each material color.
Usage of fluorescent tubes and cathode ray tubes have decreased, but they have continued to illuminate us through the ages. The materials with various memories of light are collected, handled with care, heated again, transformed, and are given new light. As if the very existence of the "sun" has been captured within it, the recycled glass shining with heat is a material that connects the light of the past with the light of the future.
Orbit
2022 / presented in Milan - ITALY
Salone del Mobile. Milano, Salone Satellite 2022
Concept, Design: Hiroto Yoshizoe
Glass Development: Taguchi Takayuki, Hirota Sunao, Yamamoto Tadashi, Hotegi Naomichi, Kohmoto Masazumi, Hamada Kanai, Uechi Yukiko, Kitamura Talanori (STUDIO RELIGHT), Akino Yoshida
Metal Development: Kenichi Ochiai, Atsushi Muramatsu (Ochiai Seisakusyo Co.,Ltd.), Toratoshi Shiraha (Arms Co.,Ltd.), Tamio Iwasaki (Sankyo Alumite Co.,Ltd.), Makoto Arakawa (Arakawa&Co.,Ltd.)
Paint Development: Hisato Hidaka (Kapilavas)
Electric Development: Tetsuya Yashima, Ryuichi Yaguchi, Kenichiro Sugawara, Hidetomo Shibamiya, Toru Tomoda (Y.S.M PRODUCTS), Light Industry
Print Development: Masahiro Morita (FACETEC)
Film Direction, Sound: Shunsuke Watanabe (uranographia)
Photography: Shunsuke Watanabe (uranographia)
Management, Interpreter: Maho Yoshizoe
Coordinator(Italy): Yukiko Nagai
Special thanks: Akane Miki, Minako Kasano, Ami Haraguchi, Hiroe Tanita