Platinum Lighting Products and Fixtures Design · 2021
Be Water Lamp
- A' Design Award 2021 Platinum Winner in Lighting Products and Fixtures Design
- Awarded April 15, 2021
- CLIENT: Waw Collection
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 283,690
- Verification code CF98BA46AD · Verify this award
About Be Water Lamp
Be Water is a linear, modular and recessed kinetic LED lamp for decorative wall washing. The lamp is installed inside a light cove or behind furniture, so only the moving light is visible. Light is refracted through a handmade glass cylinder that rotates on its axis and projects fluctuating flares onto the wall. The effect recalls sunlight reflected on the surface of moving water. One motor can drive from one to six modules. Optional filters create the colour variants Be Fire, Be Air and Be Earth. Aluminium, borosilicate glass and plexiglass are used, and each piece is made in Italy.
Fernando Correa's Be Water Lamp represents a compelling intersection of lighting design and kinetic art, drawing upon traditions of phenomenological investigation that have characterized avant-garde approaches to light as artistic medium since the mid-twentieth century. The work appears to engage with philosophical concepts surrounding the fluid nature of existence, perhaps referencing contemplative traditions that employ water as a metaphor for adaptability and continuous transformation. The technical achievement demonstrated in this piece lies in its transformation of utilitarian LED illumination into an experiential phenomenon, where the horizontal glass cylinder filled with water becomes an optical instrument capable of projecting ever-changing caustic patterns that suggest the dappled light of natural aquatic environments. The designer seems to have drawn inspiration from the mesmerizing quality of light filtering through water, a universal human experience that evokes memories of swimming pools, ocean surfaces, and sunlit streams. The material vocabulary speaks to contemporary sensibilities, combining industrial precision in the metallic framework with the organic unpredictability of water in motion, creating a dialogue between human engineering and natural forces. The compositional restraint evident in the minimal housing and clean geometric forms suggests influences from both Japanese design philosophy and Scandinavian functionalism, traditions that share an appreciation for essential beauty and purposeful elegance. The work invites contemplation of light itself as a plastic medium capable of transformation and expression beyond mere illumination. Viewers might consider how the piece transforms architectural surfaces into dynamic canvases, questioning the boundary between fixture and environment, between designed object and atmospheric condition.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- It is a kinetic linear, modular, recessed, wall wash, decorative LED lamp installed inside a light cove or behind furniture.
Light is refracted through a deformed glass cylinder that rotates on its axis projecting upward fluctuating flares of light. One single motor can rotate with traction from 1 to 6 modules.
Components:
- Motor unit
- 1 to 6 modules
- 1 to 6 glass cylinders
The color variations Be Fire, Be Air & Be Earth are obtained with accessory filters applied directly to the light source. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions:
L: from 85mm to 480mm
D: 8.5mm
H: 32mm
It can be purchased from a min of 1 to a max of 6 modules for motor, depending on the desired length.
The lamp packaging includes a Gift Box with:
- Gloves to handle the glass cylinders to prevent leaving fingerprints
- Installation kit tube with tools
- Be Water room fragrance sample and scratch'n'sniff samples of Be Fire, Be Air and Be Earth fragrances.
- QR Code to our Spotify Channel to listen to recommended relaxation music playlists. - Tags
- #bewaterlamp, #wawcollection, #kineticlamp, #ledlamp, #waterreflection, #colourtherapy, #multisensorydesign, #kineticdesign, #sensorydesign, #emotionaldesign
- Production Technology
- It is entirely made by Italian craftsmen. The handmade glass cylinders are shaped like the surface of moving water makes each piece unique and unrepeatable.
The carefully selected materials reduce environmental footprint by being 100% recyclable:
- Aluminum
- Borosilicate glass
- Plexiglass
- Recycled plastic & cardboard for packaging
The combination of colors in the optional color filter accessories, create a 3D effect as the colored caustics move and combine themselves in the illuminated wall. - Design Challenge
- The challenge was to create a lamp that emulates sunlight reflected on water, without it.
This effect can be created with projections but to prevent the shadows of people it is necessary to reduce the distance between source and target to prevent it.
After several tests, we concluded a cylinder was the right shape to work with. The round surface would repeat itself turning on its central axis, giving continuity.
A glass cylinder with an irregular surface like moving water surface was designed. - Project Duration
- WAW Collection Showroom:
Via Solferino, 11 - Milan, Italy.
Exhibited as a launch product for the new brand WAW Collection in Milan Design Days in 2020. - Operation Flow
- Be Water lamp is to be installed inside a light cove grazing the wall or behind furniture, leaving only the moving light visible.
Be Water Lamp and its chromatic variations Be Fire, Be Air and Be Earth can be matched to:
- Four different fragrances
- Four relaxing music recommended playlists in Spotify
- Four different chocolates offered to our showroom visits
All of these combined give a multi-sensorial experience, inviting you to immerse yourself completely in relaxation and well-being. - Research
- In optics, caustics are light rays reflected or refracted by a curved transparent surface into another surface. Rippling caustics are commonly formed when light shines through waves on a body of water.
In order to emulate the moving light effect required, the designer observed throughly the phenomenon under bridges, sides of boats and swimming pools.
Experimentation followed with plastic bottles, glass and acrylic. Defining also quantity and intensity of light sources to find the right effect. - Inspiration
- The design is inspired by the continuous, soothing and hypnotic effect the sunlight reflected on the moving surface of water makes against vertical walls, under bridges and boats' hulls.
Other chromatic possible variants emitted as the lamp's water original effect are: Fire with the ardour of its flames, Air represented by the phenomenon of the northern lights (aurora borealis) and finally Earth inspired by lavender fields in Provence transforming and characterizing the surrounding environment. - Image Credits
- Photos by: Matteo Piazza, Flavio Di Renzo
Videos by: Davide Calafà, Flavio Di Renzo - Patents
- Patented