Seeing the light: Terzani's new gallery space

The Italian city of Florence is regarded by many as the cradle of the Renaissance, during which artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci helped to redefine the cultural landscape of Europe. Florence remains an important artistic hub, with many creative companies and organisations establishing offices and showrooms within its historic walls. Italian luxury lighting brand Terzani is among the latest businesses to open a dedicated space in the city, offering visitors an opportunity to explore its collection in a gallery-like setting that befits its ambition of operating at the intersection of art, luxury and design.

Terzani was founded in Florence in 1972 and is rightly proud of its home city’s artistic heritage, which has consistently inspired its bespoke, handmade lighting solutions. Its products offer much more than the basic function of illumination, with sculptural forms and sophisticated materials helping to elevate the spaces in which they are placed.

The design of the new 300-sqm showroom was created by Nicolas Terzani, in collaboration with Lisa Donatini of the Terzani team. The designers wanted to create an immersive experience showcasing the handmade objects and the quality of light they produce. The outcome is a minimal and refined interior that resembles an art gallery, with dedicated areas for presenting the different product ranges. ‘The project was conceived to enhance each single product,’ explains Nicolas Terzani. ‘Each family is placed in a separate space in order to give the visitor a privileged view and some very significant products are displayed in a “room” created just for them.’

One of the showroom’s most distinctive features is its dark walls, floors and ceilings, upon which Terzani’s products cast dramatic patterns of light and shadow. The strikingly graphic G.r.a. pendant designed by Bruno Rainaldi, for example, generates geometric shadows that become even more intriguing when the products are arranged in multiples or alongside other designs such as Rainaldi’s laser-cut Magdalena pendant or the organic Orten’zia lights. Another example is the expressive Doodle collection by Simone Micheli, which features a seemingly random jumble of lines that produces a captivating web of shadows.

‘The showroom’s walls are graphite coloured in order to enhance the refractions, the reflections that our lamps project all around, a distinctive sign of Terzani products,’ Terzani adds. ‘Inside the showroom, some bespoke compositions suggest the infinite potential of our products.’

Visitors to the space can expect to encounter bold and technically innovative lighting products such as the Moiré pendant designed by Christian Lava, which has a dynamic, illusory quality. The undulating shade comprises overlapping grids in nickel or gold-plated finishes that produce a pulsing optical effect as the viewer moves around the lamp. The Mizu pendant light developed by Nicolas Terzani is another key product that embodies the brand’s artisanal approach. Mizu comprises crystal elements resembling water droplets that are handmade so no two are alike. Positioning the lamps in a dedicated booth highlights the reflections they produce and how they evoke the way water refracts light.

The showroom will be used to showcase some of Terzani’s latest releases, which currently include the versatile Gaia pendants by Jean-François Crochet. Gaia consists of geometric metal elements welded together in linear configurations that allow light to spill out and create a dispersed glow. The Argent collection designed by Dodo Arslan is another highlight on display, with its cluster of individual discs that produce soft, shimmering illumination. The metal discs are joined by hand to create cloud-like shapes that can function as either suspension or wall lights.

Argent, Gaia, Mizu and the rest of Terzani’s collection can be viewed at the new showroom, where visitors can also chat with expert advisors about customising the lights to fit a specific space or design scheme. As one of Italy’s leading manufacturers of luxury lighting products, Terzani wanted to create a place where people can experience the Made in Italy quality and attention to detail of these unique objects at close quarters. By presenting them like the artworks displayed in Florence’s famous museums, the showroom provides inspiration for anyone seeking elegant, sculptural lighting solutions for sophisticated contemporary spaces.

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