Embracing celestial forms, Olivier Vitry's ‘Moonlight’ collection creates an aura

Inspired by the form of the crescent moon, architect and designer Olivier Vitry of Belgium-based architecture firm Claisse Architectures crafted the Moonlight luminaires. There is a poesy to the delicate sliver of light created by the crescent moon, as it adorns the night sky with its subdued beauty. “A crescent is the shape produced when a circle is partially filled in by another circle, what remains is a shape surrounded by two arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points. This crescent is slightly deformed and pierced with slits allowing the light to appear and thus highlighting the material of the object: MOONLIGHT,” shares Vitry about his inspiration behind the collection.

The form for Moonlight’s lighting design is inspired by a blend of various elements – a candlestick, a sculpture, a column and the crescent moon. The floor lamps are pierced by slits that run along the length of the pillar, allowing light to illuminate from within and highlighting the travertine and marble which make up the lamp. “This lamp is made from waste travertine and marble slices that form a set of layers reminiscent of the moon's crust and that vibrate in different ways with the light,” elaborates Vitry on the choice of materials.

The aesthetic objectives of Vitry's product designs involve adding elegance, harmony, and a sense of well-being to his creations, along with adaptability, sustainability and intuitive, minimalist forms. “In my projects, research into assemblies and modularity is very important. In this project, the challenge was above all a technical one, to succeed in harmoniously assembling waste marble to create a pure, architectural form. Each new project is an opportunity for me to meet and exchange ideas with craftsmen. I'm constantly on the lookout for new materials and techniques, and this project is a good example of that,” explains Vitry when asked about his design philosophy. The product designer aims to take into account the fact that life is continuously in motion and wants to enable the user to customise an object to suit their needs. Two Moonlight luminaires can be placed together in various configurations to create new ways for the light to reverberate through their architectural forms.

The Moonlight luminaires are currently gracing the Le Beau a une Adresse exhibition in Brussels until December 2023. The lamp design, which draws inspiration from the moon, opens up new avenues for creating captivating lighting fixtures for various interior settings. The collection embarks on a sustainable design journey, ingeniously combining recycled products with modular lighting solutions, thereby serving as a testament to the different outcomes that arise from the harmonious interplay of celestial inspiration and human ingenuity. In addition to demonstrating Vitry's commitment to innovation, his visionary approach demonstrates the lighting designer’s capacity to go beyond conventional boundaries of design and craftsmanship while upholding an exquisite aesthetic. Upon being questioned about his future projects, Vitry added, “I'm currently working on other luminaires that will be more modular and linked to the gestures of calligraphy, but there are lots of other projects in the pipeline too, and I can't wait to finalize them so that I can present them to you.”

Text by Ria Jha