Founded in 1962 on the idea of creating objects that change our way of life, Italian lighting manufacturers Flos have been working with the world’s leading industrial designers ever since.

In 2018 they launched the Gaku collection by Japanese designer Nendo, which in his native tongue translates to ‘frame’.

Gaku is a frame that includes portable lighting and accessories.

Nendo, or Oki Sato, is perhaps best known in Australia for his design of the recent Escher X Nendo exhibition at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria. A fitting alignment given the work of both Escher and Nendo play visual tricks on the mind through the interplay of black and white.

Gaku continues this approach and challenges the typology of a light fitting. In fact, as its name suggests, it is a frame that is accompanied by a series of elements including lighting.

Available in black or natural solid ash, and as a wired or wireless system, the timber frame acts as a shelf. Beneath the grain of the wireless version holds magnets and induction charging technology, which is where the real trickery starts to play out.

Designed by Japanese designer Nendo, Gaku is a like a room in miniature.

The accessories – bookends, mirrors, pencil holders, small vases and portable lighting – are kept in place magnetically while the power induced by the frame can keep the rechargeable luminaire lit-up autonomously for two entire days at its lowest setting. The light fitting includes a diffuser with four different settings and, of course, the frame can charge your phone at the same time.

Gaku is available in wired or wireless versions.

In the wired version, a downlight is suspended from the frame and can be adjusted in height with two dimming levels. And with the addition of a portable spotlight, directional lighting to a room is possible and the spot can be set at different angles using the internal magnets.

As the designer suggests, interacting with Gaku is like casually rearranging the interior of a miniature room. And in keeping with both Flos and Nendo’s approach to design, it is an experience that starts with the bulb.

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GAKU AND FLOS ARE AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH EUROLUCE LIGHTING

WRITTEN BY HouseLab