Wendy Maarten Pulley Lamps

Rotterdam industrial shipyards inspire elegant porcelain fixtures

11 July 2012

Dutch design duo Wendy Legro and Maarten Collignon found inspiration for their latest collection in the industrial shipyards of Rotterdam that surround their office. Better known as Wendy Maarten, they came together in 2010 after successfully partnering in several design contests around the Netherlands. “We noticed that working together makes us better,” says Legro. “The one thing that really connects us is that we really share the same taste.”

Their newest project, “Lightness in Lines,” is a lighting collection inspired by the pulley systems of Rotterdam’s shipyards and serves as a testament to their formally driven design process. “The Dutch translation for the word designer is ‘shape giver’—we literally want to give shape to objects but it should never lose its function,” says Collignon. “The aim for the ‘Lightness in Lines’ collection was to create elegant and friendly objects with a big focus on aesthetic qualities and form.”

The result is a line that’s both delicate and streamlined, consisting of long porcelain lamps balanced out by custom counterweights. The counterweight and the working pulley system allow one to easily adjust the height of each lamp. The collection comes in a variety of colors ranging from the industrial all-black iteration to the softer-looking gradient lamps that come in colors like grapefruit and yellow. “We use pigments to color the clay, the matte result almost makes it look like rubber which is perfect to reflect the industrial beauty of shipyards,” says Legro. “Working with ceramics means being challenged all the time. Close to our office we now have our porcelain workshop where we make every single lamp by hand with a lot of care, frustration and joy.”