Wästberg has unveiled two new families of lights during Orgatec, created in collaboration with Sam Hecht and Kim Colin of London-based studio Industrial Facility and Berlin-based designer Dirk Winkel.
The w182 pastille, developed in collaboration with Sam Hecht & Kim Colin, is at its essence a pure disc of light attached to a thin line, a construction that allows a variety of 'surfaces' to be illuminated. Different to task lamps that illuminate in a focused way; or table and pendant lamps that provide ambient light, the w182 pastille "family of lights" sees environments as surfaces to softly illuminate, be it a wall, a floor or a table. The w182 pastille is able to freely articulate between these surfaces by rotating up, down and around. Providing a gentle light that is complimentary to interiors, w182 aims to reflect how people actually want to live and work.
Utterly simple yet flexible in its presentation, materiality and use w182 pastille is made of a high-performance material. A bio-polyamide that is based on over 60% biologically sourced and recyclable material from the castor plant. Its material provides warmth and strength, making the w182 pastille lighter and easier to adjust from anywhere on the lamp. At the top of the elegant and slender vertical pole is a single control button for turning the lamp on and off and also for dimming.
w182 pastille creates a remarkable spread of light that is warm and dimmable all from a single LED rather than an array. This reduces heat as well as energy use. This is achieved by reaching a state of equilibrium between its single light source, a large reflector and large diffuser. The result is a new kind of simplicity where the diffuser itself is as malleable with the hand as any other part of the lamp.
Sam Hecht & Kim Colin worked closely with Wästberg on how w182 pastille could adapt to a variety of spatial conditions. As a result, it can sit on a table; clamp to a desk or shelf; hang from a wall, be floor standing or integrate into a table or wall surface with no visible cable.
The w181 linier, developed in collaboration with Dirk Winkel, is a pendant luminaire that appears like a linear lamp at first sight, but its geometrically strict and minimalistic body actually houses a series of 260 ultra tight-packed individual optical systems. The w181 linier utilises a deep-recessed long linear lens with spot characteristics and separated glare-protection compartments. This design decision allows for an exactly defined, but warm, well-balanced and absolutely glare-free field of light on any working or dining table, like a linear spotlight. For convenient operation, the w181 has integrated dimming wheels on both ends of the luminaire, which can be turned independently to set the light level.
Photography: Johan Kalén