Michael Anastassiades

Michael Anastassiades: the poetry of light expressed through geometry

Michael Anastassiades is closely associated with a new language of lighting design. Michael Anastassiades lighting is recognisable through perfect spheres, fine metal lines, mathematically precise proportions and an almost weightless presence in a room. Michael Anastassiades created collections with Flos that became modern classics and changed perceptions of decorative lighting.

Biography

Michael Anastassiades was born in Cyprus in 1967. Michael Anastassiades first studied civil engineering at Imperial College London before continuing with industrial design at the Royal College of Art.

Engineering training shaped Michael Anastassiades's entire career. Michael Anastassiades approaches an object as the result of precise calculation rather than as an artistic object, with every line supported by a structural rationale.

Michael Anastassiades founded a studio in London in 1994. Michael Anastassiades founded the Michael Anastassiades brand in 2007, producing author-designed lighting, furniture and interior objects. Michael Anastassiades works are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and other major museums worldwide.

Design philosophy

Michael Anastassiades avoids the term “minimalism”. Michael Anastassiades says the aim is not to simplify a form for the sake of simplicity, but to remove everything unnecessary until only the essence remains.

Sources of inspiration include:

ancient Cypriot architecture;
nature;
engineering structures;
modernist art;
human gestures and everyday rituals.

Michael Anastassiades works at the intersection of art, architecture and industrial design. Michael Anastassiades objects appear extremely simple, yet complex engineering work lies behind that simplicity.

Collaboration with Flos

The partnership between Michael Anastassiades and Flos became one of the most productive collaborations in contemporary lighting design.

Flos gave Michael Anastassiades complete freedom to explore, resulting in lighting designs now regarded as new design icons.

Michael Anastassiades projects for Flos are defined by a sense of impossibility. Light appears to defy the laws of physics: spheres balance on fine supports, cables become graphic lines, and the lighting designs resemble kinetic sculptures.

IC Lights (2014)

IC Lights is regarded as Michael Anastassiades's best-known project.

Michael Anastassiades developed the idea after watching a juggler balance several balls on the tips of his hands. Michael Anastassiades transferred that sense of perfect balance into a lighting design.

Key features include:

spherical glass diffuser;
ultra-thin metal frame;
visual balance;
sculptural and functional design.

IC Lights is available as table, floor, wall and pendant lighting. IC Lights has become one of the most recognisable Flos series.

String Lights (2014)

String Lights changed perceptions of pendant lighting.

Michael Anastassiades replaced the traditional light fitting with a long, tensioned electrical cable used as a complete architectural element.

Key features include:

cable lengths of up to several metres;
custom configurations;
minimalist geometry;
a graphic pattern within the interior.

String Lights became especially popular in contemporary homes, restaurants and creative offices.

Arrangements (2017)

Arrangements is one of the most innovative Flos collections.

Arrangements consists of separate lighting modules, including circles, diamonds, lines and drops, which can be connected in an almost unlimited number of compositions.

Michael Anastassiades compares Arrangements with jewellery suspended in space.

Key features include:

modular construction;
architectural scalability;
light as a spatial composition;
custom lighting scenarios.

Arrangements became one of the most sought-after decorative lighting systems for public spaces and premium interiors.

Coordinates (2020)

Coordinates demonstrates another aspect of Michael Anastassiades's creative work.

Coordinates is a system of illuminated aluminium profiles that forms a graphic grid in space. Coordinates resembles architectural drawings transferred into a three-dimensional environment.

Coordinates is widely used in hotels, offices, museums and contemporary public interiors because of its modularity and flexibility.

Why the collaboration with Flos became significant

Before Michael Anastassiades projects appeared, decorative lighting was often viewed as an independent object. Michael Anastassiades collections changed that approach.

Michael Anastassiades makes the light fitting part of the architecture. Michael Anastassiades lighting does not dominate an interior, but creates a subtle composition through interaction with room volume, reflections and natural light.

That approach made IC Lights, String Lights, Arrangements and Coordinates modern symbols of intelligent lighting design.

Michael Anastassiades in contemporary interiors

Michael Anastassiades projects are especially sought after in interiors that value architectural clarity and expressive form. Michael Anastassiades lighting is used in private residences, boutique hotels, art galleries, fine-dining restaurants and premium corporate spaces.

Michael Anastassiades designs do not seek attention through decoration. Michael Anastassiades lighting is defined by exact proportions, engineering precision and the ability to create a calm atmosphere in which light becomes an independent architectural material.