Award winning product and interior designer Lee Broom has unveiled his latest lighting collection, Optical, in a unique installation staged inside his studio’s delivery van, driven all the way to Milan from his London HQ.
The van will be on different days in the city’s key design hotspots, including Brera Design District, Spazio Rossana Orlandi, ZonaTortona, San Gregorio Docet, Ventura Lambrate and more.
Called ‘Salone del Automobile, presented inside Broom’s industrial grey and white liveried delivery van, the back doors open to reveal a dramatic recreation of a traditional Italian palazzo along with his new lighting range. The interior – all in Lee Broom signature grey – with its ornate corinthian columns, architrave and stuccoed detail will be the unexpected backdrop for the crisp simplicity of his new monochrome lighting collection Optical. Highlighted from below by an illuminated floor, the result was an engaging moment for people to experience as they walked past the van.
“While deciding where I should exhibit I thought – what about everywhere? Making my Salone del Mobile mobile is an exciting way to exhibit. My designs are often surreal and the idea behind the installation is to see something unexpected — a captivating optical illusion,” explains Lee Broom.
The Optical collection’s floor and pendant lights reflect Broom’s recent move towards more understated, modern designs. Yet the Op Art-inspired graphic patterns on the illuminated globes echo the asymmetry of some of Broom’s previous designs, such as his Crescent light. When viewed from all sides, Optical’s linear pattern changes at every angle.
Optical also holds strong personal associations for Broom: “It’s really inspired by the period in which I grew up in. I guess my first real foray into interiors was decorating my own bedroom in the early 90’s and Optical really reflects the monochrome graphics and mood of that era.”
all images © Marcus Tondo