Beyond the Trend: A Light in the Room with Pirajean Lees

The concept struck a chord with me. Soul is not a material or a moodboard reference. It is a quality that lingers in a space or an object that has been shaped with intention. That is why I have valued the opportunity for Iberian Lighting to collaborate on this project so highly.

The room concept is fabulous, from the Chladni pattern inspired rug to the record player seat, every element in the room feels in tune, no competing for attention but everything contributes to an atmosphere. For our feature pendant light, the finish had to reflect that soulful attention to the feeling of the room. It is most certainly not a finish we picked from a chart, it revealed itself with the creation of the piece. We let the objects guide us, adjusting tones, softening surfaces, and stopping when it felt right.

These days that kind of sensitivity is hard to hold on to in commercial projects but the line between designing and manufacturing should not be about homogeneity. It should reflect intent. Designing, to me, begins with mood and meaning. Modern manufacturing, increasingly, begins with efficiency as a way of mitigating costs. It is not inherently a problem but it can become one when the production process begins to dilute that thing that made the design compelling in the first place.

LP01 pendant light

Iberian Lighting and Pirajean Lees discussing the details - picture credit: Arturs Ozolins

A prototype has a spark to it. Perhaps it has a slightly uneven finish or a proportion that catches the eye without quite knowing why. But when it is prepared for market, those qualities often vanish. The finish becomes defined and even. The detail smoothed and the feeling evoked by the prototype dissipates. What was once beautiful and individual becomes anonymous and bland.

Offering standard finishes on our high-end brass work is not something I do, not because I want to be difficult but because of a deep-seated belief that every bespoke piece should be allowed to find its own tone. Sometimes the room asks for a surface that feels aged and settled and sometimes it needs something lighter and fresher. These decisions cannot be made in advance, they come from being present with the work. After all, when I create a piece to fit with a client or brief how can I maintain the piece’s integrity and soul if I apply a standard finish to it. A harmonious integration into a scheme has to mean more than just having the piece the same colour as the rest.

Mindful Finishing - Iberian Lighting Craftsmanship

When I speak of soul in design it is the residue of attention to detail that I am referring to. Things that are felt rather than explained. A material that has been worked slowly, proportions allowed to settle before being fixed. Soul is not added at the end but it is the outcome of care in one’s work that should be present from the beginning.

Iberian Lighting x Pirajean Lees - picture credit: Arturs Ozolins

Often commercial reality makes this difficult and as a company we will of course accommodate our clients wishes. The industry tends to value clarity, speed, and scalability, but I think we must ask ourselves: ‘What do we lose in the process?’ It is not surface imperfection, it is detail, it is meaning, it is atmosphere. It is the difference between a piece that fills a space and one that changes how that space is felt.

Creating with soul is not about resisting progress. It is about redrawing our value criteria to regain something lost. There is, perhaps, something of the Wabi-Sabi spirit in that outlook, a quiet deference to the imperfect. Not everything needs to be streamlined and repeatable. Some choices should be made slowly and some pieces should feel as though they could only exist where they are, a presence that is a product of mindful and hand-applied care.

The music library pendant

There is something in the emerging language of Slow Design that feels closely aligned with how I want to work. Not a strict philosophy, but a way of staying attuned to the pace and particularity of each project. It reminds me of a soul track interpreted by different performers. The structure holds, but what each version reveals depends entirely on how it is felt. A slight shift in tempo, a pause held a little longer, a lyric delivered with a different kind of weight makes the performance unique and powerful. Emotion lives in that nuance. That is how I like to think about the bespoke pieces I create, shaped not just to answer a brief, but to express something that belongs uniquely to that moment and setting. A presence that feels inevitable, as though it could only ever have been this way.