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Lique

Prize(s) Winners in Designer and Custom Lighting / Pendant Lighting
University University of Cincinnati
Lead Designers Austin Hines
Photo Credits Austin Hines
Completion Date 8/04/22
Project Location Cincinnati, OH
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Entry Description

My goal for this project was to design an object with a focus on experimentation and materiality. While also realizing this idea of reflexivity- having the product provide an insight into its own creation, letting the viewer know how it was made.

"An important aspect of design is the degree to which the object involves you in its own completion. Some work invites you into itself by not offering a finished, glossy, one-reading-only surface." - Brian Eno

I wanted Lique to do just that, include the viewer into how it was constructed and designed. Leaving just enough room for the viewer to be mystified unto how certain materials were manipulated and transformed.

THE DESIGN

Lique is a hanging pendant light with a focus on materiality and process. Both the glass component and the steel ring are up cycled materials. Steel from a junkyard and glass from an old discarded building. The marriage of these two found materials are both unexpected and beautiful.

The glass was water jet cut to shape and then melted in a kiln at 1300 degrees ffahrenheit over the metal ring. When the glass melts it falls in a very organic way, creating a beautiful draping effect.