Nothing seemed predestined when Lindsey Adelman (pictured) became a tastemaker in the design world. After studying English, she started her career as an editorial assistant at the Smithsonian Institution. While working there and touring the fabrication department, however, a chance encounter with a woman carving foam French fries for an exhibit changed the course of Adelman’s professional path and life.
Fascinated by the industrial designer’s work, Adelman returned to school to learn more about this discipline. At the Rhode Island School of Design, she discovered her passion for light. Ever since, the passion has stayed with her and, in 2006, Adelman launched her eponymous studio in her hometown of New York City.
Next to her: The Drop System Chandelier
Text: Karine Monie Photos: Kent Johnson
“Our studio’s signature aesthetic was born with the release of our very first product: the Branching Bubble chandelier, which combines the organic nature and blown glass with more rational, machined components,” she says. “Since then, we have explored that visual tension throughout a range of products and disciplines.”
Last May, Adelman inaugurated her new showroom. It occupies the second floor of the same building as her current studio – which acts as a creative laboratory – in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, doubling her footprint to 930 sq ft.
“Now more than ever, having more space, we’re really able to serve our audience at a much higher level,” she explains. “A real motivation was to allow our design and sales teams to work together and meet clients … [who] like to get a sneak peek of the behind-the-scenes process.”
Adorned with artworks by Tanya Aguiñiga, Fred Sandback and Robert Rauschenberg, the welcoming showroom – which comprises flexible lounge and seating areas – features Adelman’s handmade lighting pieces.
It also hosts furniture by the designer’s past collaborators and other creative minds, including The Future Perfect, BDDW, Fort Standard, Matthew Hilton, Heartwork, Breuckelen Berber and Boffi.
Pictured: The Kingdom chandelier design by Karl Zahn for Lindsey Adelman.
Blurring the lines between sculpture and design, Adelman’s creations – inspired from diverse references, from Mondrian paintings to the Albert Camus’s books to Giacometti’s works and style – embody an understated harmony between spontaneity and rationality, handcrafted elements and machine-made parts, pure beauty and functionality.
Lindsey Adelman Studio also comprises a workshop.
Visit www.lindseyadelman.con for more on Lindsey Adelman.
The bathroom features the Catch and Cherry Bomb lamps.
Visit www.lindseyadelman.com for more on Lindsey Adelman.
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