Ferréol Babin

In the world of lighting design, Ferréol Babin's boldly experimental lamps are a bright spot.
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Ferréol Babin first studied spatial design at L’École Nationale Supérieure d’Art in his hometown of Dijon, France, but soon realized that he felt more comfortable designing at the human scale, where he could fine-tune minute details in the objects that people interact with. After a trip to study at Nagoya University of Art & Design in Japan, and a second degree in object design completed back in France at ESAD Reims, he turned his focus to lighting. "I remember fighting with a teacher because I was obsessed with lamps," Babin says. "He told me that the Italians in the 1970s had already experimented with everything and that I should focus on something else. This exchange had the opposite effect on me, and trying to find new lighting solutions is what I enjoy the most." 

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Lunaire Wall Sconce by FontanaArte.

For Babin, light is the element that creates a dialogue between an object and its environment. His work is sculptural, subtle, and sophisticated: "I like to imagine my lamps as silhouettes that are almost vanishing or sleeping when switched off," Babin says. Phases, his graduation project, caught the eye of historic Italian lighting manufacturer FontanaArte, who worked with him to develop the Lunaire wall sconce. After the French company Moustache saw the Aurore lamp as a prototype at Galerie Tator in Lyon, they put it into production. And what’s next for Babin? "Lamps, always lamps!"
 

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Italian designer Ferréol Babin's Aurore table lamp.

 
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The Plateau table light with warm LED lights.

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Babin debuted the Plateau table lamp in 2013.

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Babin's Roll desk lamp features a rotational light fixture.

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“I like to imagine my lamps as silhouettes that are almost vanishing or sleeping when switched off,” says Babin.

Diana Budds
A New York-based writer, Diana studied art history and environmental policy at UC Davis.

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