Lights are tools that can transfigure a dark canvas into a lively ambience by playing with the natural elements, says Kanchan Puri Shetty. By Asmita Sarkar
When you walk down the green pathways of the Italian Embassy you realise that a beautifully manicured garden lit up with carefully designed lights can transport you to different moods within one space. From Vibhor Sogani’s swans to Kaza, inspired from the Weaver bird’s nest, to the terracotta lamps hanging from a tree looking like Jugnoo or fireflies by another artist, the garden at the Italian Ambassador, Lorenzo Angeloni’s residence opened up a large canvas for lighting designers to play with.
“It was a dark canvas. If you see the old lights it was nothing. There’s an old structure, there are greens, pathways, avenue of trees, olive trees and they all lend character to the space. The elements are beautiful and there is everything a designer would want to light up. It’s a perfect canvas. Apart from the elements, you think about the ambience you want to create when you design. This is the perfect example of what lighting designers can do to a place. This is a consortium of designers who have come together and are painting with light. Literally, we’re having fun using visual arts as a medium. There’s a dining space, a band will set up under a tree, and the lighting there is named Jugnoo, for fireflies that come from the tree,” said designer Kanchan Puri Shetty, who brought it all together.
Italian lighting brand, IGuzzini has brought Vibhor Sogani, Harmeet Singh Issar, Sarvdeep Basur, Kanchan Puri Shetty, Manav Bhargava and Linus Lopez together along with The Luxury Symposium to show the play between light and dark.
“We have requested the Italian Embassy for Vespas for an installation. We have named that installation ‘Hamara Vespa’. When you walk down the pathway, the installation is like the Coldplay song Lights will guide you home so we named it Shepherd. We can showcase here what lighting design can do. We are a fraternity which is very independent but also dependent on architects. It came by organically. We walked around and decided to add lights to the columns and more. It was a narrative of how we want the guests to experience spaces differently. How you change the ambience and mood, it’s a visual onslaught. Yet, each one has a viewing angle. You see something from a distance, it attracts you to go near it and you see all its intricacies. That’s how art should be,” said Shetty.
There is no theme for the light installations but everything comes together seamlessly.
“Lighting is a lot about darkness as well. The sun, the moon and the way nature is, so is my design philosophy that it should be meaningful. I also believe in being energy conscious. It’s not just about a grid of lights, you’re sculpting with it,” she added.
The evening is expected to be a showcase for architects and people who have a vision of transforming their homes apart from being another step forward towards the Indo-Italian friendship.
“I think it is known that Italy is a leader in industrial design. The cooperation and collaboration between design in Italy and industry in India is important. Architecture, fashion and lighting design are our forte too, apart from manufacturing.
“In the last 20 years, lighting design — external and internal — has become prominent in my country. At the recent Tech Summit, cultural heritage was one of the talking points. Why? There is a huge heritage reservoir in India and Italy. There are 57 UNESCO recognised sites in India. IGuzzini was one of the first companies that became famous in the world for lighting monuments and this can be a huge space for collaboration between the two countries,” said Ambassador Angeloni.