Mercury sospensione
Pendant Luminaire

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: product design 2008

Galaxies of light
Huge pendant luminaires are at the centre of every interior, and often they offer the designer vast possibilities of creative expression – hardly any other object embodies the personal design convictions of a designer more intensively. The Mercury sospensione luminaire is a significant example of such a symbiosis between intention and form – its designer, Ross Lovegrove, who is known for his impressive and often icon-like organic designs, has conceived of the Mercury as a sculpture that merges many interesting characteristics. At first sight this pendant luminaire evokes the impression of a galaxy of luminescent objects that immediately attract the attention of anyone that enters the room. It consists of several “light stones” which, although fixed to it, seem to float freely underneath a simple aluminium disc. With their reflective, metallic finish, these objects look like drops of liquid metal that are constantly changing shape. Creating this impression of organic flow was made possible with a difficult-to-achieve combination of aluminium and chrome materials; the Mercury luminaire is produced using thermoplastic injection moulding, die-cast and injection-moulding technologies. Probably the most exciting aspect of the Mercury is to be found in the way it mirrors light and thus almost appears to be playing with the observer: light seems to float back and forth between the individual stones and is reflected in the shiny biomorphic surfaces. This pendant luminaire thus enters into an exciting interaction with the people and objects in a room: in daylight, Mercury is a sculpture that reflects the natural light as well as the movements of the persons around.