IXA, a high-powered LED lamp designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with Artemide, has launched at this year’s Milano Design Week. This is the practice’s fourth partnership with Artemide, who are known for their human-centred approach to lighting design.
The IXA lamp has an inherent dynamism that allows it to inhabit different typologies of light – from task focussed lighting to decorative and ambient compositions. Inspired by Alexander Calder’s sculptures, the design interprets the idea of ‘elegant balance’ through precision engineering.
Mike Holland, Head of Industrial Design, Foster + Partners, said: “IXA has evolved through an intuitive design and making process. Slight variations in applied weight and movement have informed the lamp’s dynamic design. IXA provides a flexible, highly personalised lighting experience.”
Illustrating the versatility of the design, IXA is available in table, floor and wall configurations. The first phase of the collection offers a 100-millimetre opaque sphere, for focused settings, in four unique colourways: charcoal, slip, crane and ink.
The floor and wall configurations include a spherical head which is counterbalanced by a spherical weight at the opposing end of a slender stem. The head is connected to the stem through a magnetic socket that allows tactile rotation to any orientation, while the jack-connections at each junction allow for further flexibility. The second phase of the collection will include a larger translucent sphere for more ambient lighting configurations.
Carlotta de Bevilacqua, President and CEO of Artemide, remarked: ‘The IXA lamp is a timeless product, with a refined beauty, that is the result of a measured design and manufacturing process. IXA’s elegant balance gives everyone the opportunity to be the author of their own personal lighting scenario.’
