Cloud XL from belux

The name alone – Cloud – evokes the poetic nature of these creations, which, according to their maker, should convey ‘the feeling of freedom and eccentricity’. The lamps are available in various sizes and models. Each lamp has a voluminous yet delicate paper-like shade, in the centre of which is the invisible light source. With its irregular sculptural shape, marked by countless folds, crimps, bulges and dents, it suggests a fleecy Cloud and then again a large, soft snowball. Looked at more closely, the lampshade consists of several interlinked cup-like elements. Each lamp has an individual note in spite of all lamps having the same structure and the same predetermined shape. The idea is that the fold structure of the shade, which is shaped more or less by accident during production, can be changed by bulging it out or pressing it in. In doing so, Gehry makes users into co-designers who can repeatedly change the shape of the lamp if they so wish.

Designer Frank Gehry wants Cloud to be seen as a homage to Isamo Noguchi. Cloud has the same sculptural quality as Noguchi’s famous paper Akari lamps. Gehry also shares with Noguchi a continued interest in paper, a material he has worked with intensively in his furniture projects. However, for lighting and safety reasons, an alternative material was needed to produce the lamp in series. After comprehensive tests, a multiply refined polyester material was developed, which feels and looks like strong fibrous paper. Flexible, tear-free, flame-resistant and aging resistant, this material is easy to clean and therefore ideal for Cloud.

For the production of Cloud, sheets of this new material are deep-drawn to form cups and then stiffened using a transparent polycarbonate ring. They are assembled with small plastic clips to hold them to create the rounded elements of the lampshade which can consist of any number of cups depending on the size required.

The Cloudfamily includes standard suspension lights in four sizes, which, for transportation can be pressed to a thickness of just 10 cm and then delivered to the customer where, with a few hand movements, they are easily unfolded to their final (original) shape.

From 2010, the Cloud range will also include Cloud-XL. With its sleek, ellipsoidal form, this elongated cloud is ideal for the dining room table or for rooms with low ceilings. It is held by two thin wires and powered at a central point.