This fall, the Italian lighting manufacturer Foscarini will raise its North American profile with the opening of a flagship showroom on Greene Street in New York’s SoHo.
Although the renovation of the space hasn’t yet begun, the company, which already holds the lease, decided to create something special for ICFF. The result is a snaking, suspended red sculpture made from dozens of Foscarini’s Tress floor lamps, designed by Marc Sadler. Wired together, the lamps dim and brighten in unison, following the beat of atmospheric music pumped into the room. As visitors work their way around the piece, they encounter other fixtures from the company’s catalog, including Vicente García Jiménez’s Le Soleil.
Carlo Urbinati, one of Foscarini’s owners and in town from Italy for the launch, said the installation is a sign of things to come. “We plan to do special installations a couple of times a year,” he noted, rather than having a static showroom, to demonstrate the creative possibilities of the company’s products. Those who know Foscarini, which already has a reputation for creating breathtaking installations during the Milan furniture fair every April, will be looking forward to it.
