Sowmya Putran

Light is usually the last thing added to a design, switched on once everything is finished. For many artists and designers, it now comes first. Stone is carved to catch and guide its glow, handmade papers are layered to soften or filter it, and sculptural forms are built around the way light moves through them. As lighting becomes more discreet, light stops being just what reveals a piece. It starts to feel like part of how the work is built and how you take it in. ANYTIME, ANYWHERE.

In the middle of becoming: A study in furniture Contemporary designers are marking a shift in design thinking by creating pieces with unfixed forms as part of a larger slow-life philosophy, writes Sowmya Putran.

The Vana designs feel asymmetrical and dynamic. Nature rarely follows symmetry, yet it always feels balanced. That observation guided the designers’ approach.