Of dervishes and shuttered balconies. Of: canopied bazaars; the rasped call of the muezzi; sandalwood on the wind; turmeric’s electric lustre. Moorish romance has always proved to be a rich aesthetic mine – a visual language quite unlike any other.
Paying homage to this tradition is Barcelona-based interior and industrial designer Antoni Arola. After winning Madrid’s Nacional Design Award in 2003 for, according to the jury, “the maturity of a professional career that covers a wide spectrum, ranging from interior design to product design, displaying great consistency, originality and passion”, his latest offering raises the bar yet again.
Arola’s Cirio Chandelier for Santa & Cole is at once demure and dramatic. Drawing inspiration from the traditional luminaires of Byzantine mosques, the Cirio has interchangeable handmade shades available in white porcelain of Sargadelos, to brass, to frosted opalescent glass. Each housing an ingenious LED capsule, the individual shades diffuse a gentle, warm light akin to the consecrated cirio pascual (holy wax taper).
Mount on a black metal frame, the simplicity and quietness of this impressive fitting, makes the Cirio Chandelier suitable for commercial, hospitality and large residence spaces. Thanks to the Collingwood-based design team – AJAR – who curate, import and custom detail Spanish design, the Cirio range by Antoni Arola is now available in Australia.
