Desafinado Cascade

Desafinado is Portuguese for out of tune, and the piece behaves accordingly. Hand-shaped blown glass spheres hang on thin cables from a round ceiling plate, each at its own height, none of them quite a sphere. The shaping leaves deep hollows in the glass, so every one catches the light differently.

What sets it apart from other globe cascades is the mix of surfaces. Multiforme combines frosted glass, mirrored glass and pulegoso, a glass full of small trapped bubbles, within one fitting. The mirrored spheres throw back the room, the frosted ones hold the light, and the pulegoso breaks it into points. Each fitting is lit by a combination of G9 lamps and 3W LEDs. The nine mixes are the maker's own: Sicilian Summer, The Gobi Desert, The Alps, Sunset in Oslo, Roman Holiday, Blooming of Provence, Winter in the Azores, The Shunan Forest and Dawn of Marrakech. Winter in the Azores stays cool, with smoke, frost, pulegoso and silver. The Gobi Desert runs through moka, bronze and straw. The Alps is the strongest colour, in sky and blue.

This is a piece for height. The 300cm and 250cm versions belong in a stairwell or a double-height hall, and anyone walking beneath needs about 2.1m clear, so allow a ceiling of at least 5.1m and 4.6m respectively. The 150cm and 200cm versions suit a tall living room or a hotel lobby. The 100cm and 70cm versions hang over a dining table in a room with an ordinary ceiling: at 70cm tall and Ø70cm, the smallest leaves a 2.4m room with 1.7m beneath it. The largest weighs 85kg, so the fixing point should be checked before ordering.

Multiforme is a manufactory of art glass lighting based at Trebaseleghe, in the Veneto.

Configurations

• Ø70cm, 70cm tall: Ø70cm, 70cm high, 4 x G9 + 4 x LED, 18kg. Code PL7540-70x70.
• Ø60cm, 100cm tall: Ø60cm, 100cm high, 3 x G9 + 3 x LED, 20kg. Code PL7540-60x100.
• Ø100cm, 100cm tall: Ø100cm, 100cm high, 9 x G9 + 9 x LED, 35kg. Code PL7540-100x100.
• Ø70cm, 150cm tall: Ø70cm, 150cm high, 4 x G9 + 4 x LED, 35kg. Code PL7540-70x150.
• Ø80cm, 200cm tall: Ø80cm, 200cm high, 6 x G9 + 6 x LED, 45kg. Code PL7540-80x200.
• Ø90cm, 250cm tall: Ø90cm, 250cm high, 9 x G9 + 9 x LED, 60kg. Code PL7540-90x250.
• Ø100cm, 300cm tall: Ø100cm, 300cm high, 13 x G9 + 9 x LED, 85kg. Code PL7540-100x300.

Specification

• Design: Multiforme
• Materials: hand-shaped blown art glass spheres on thin cables, metal ceiling plate
• Glass: nine preset mixes or clear; single colours and custom compositions through the studio
• Light source: G9 lamps, 40W maximum each, with 3W LEDs
• Protection: IP20, for dry indoor use
• Assembly: travels in parts, for assembly on site
• Frame: Nickel, polished or brushed, Burnished brass, Gold, polished or brushed
• Tolerance: made by hand, so dimensions can vary by ±5% and shape, decoration and colour tone can vary slightly
• Certification: CE

Made to order for you. Caspen confirms the glass, the frame and the drop in writing before production begins, and the lead time is confirmed at order. Other colours from the maker's chart, other sizes and project quantities are quoted through the studio.