designed by Hani Rashid in 2007 for the Masterpiece Collection of Zumtobel Lighteriors, chromium plated synthetic material, steel rope suspension, transparent wiring, 232 modules each of which has three LED boards, signed and numbered 1, 200 cm x 200 cm x 200 cm. (DR)
Prototype of the planned limited edition of five. "LQ", a humorous reference of the New York architect to the Sun King Louis XIV, is a modern interpretation of the magnificent crystal chandeliers of the 18th and 19th centuries, but without any crystal, glass, or candles. Exciting optical effects and a complex interrelationship of form and light are solely created through the employment of certain geometric principles, the bundling of tiny surfaces into a multifaceted reflector, and the precise arrangement of innovative LED light sources. The basic unit of this modular chandelier is a pendant lamp consisting of a LED light module and four chromium-plated elements directing the light. As a single element, it may be installed above a bar, a stand-up table, or a sideboard; as a quadruplex element above a table or anywhere else where chandeliers used to be installed, it produces optimal effects in space. Also as to light technology, the LQ Chandelier offers exciting high-tech: the LED module in the centre of the pendant lamp carries three individual light sources to each of which an optic agent has been attached. The latter spreads out the light and reflects interesting patterns on to the chromium plated light-directing elements. It is eventually due to these reflections that the chandelier unfolds its effect; the illuminating source, i.e., the LED module, is no longer perceived by the viewer. The chandelier as we conceived it, is a dissection of the elemental aspects of chandeliers that historically have been, at their best, artefacts of spectral beauty. As in much of Asymptote"™s work sculptural aspects and their interplay with spatial situations, be that city or room, prevail. And when it came to designing a chandelier for Zumtobel, the perfect opportunity arose to tackle our key concerns and preoccupations, light, sculpture and spatiality as it pertains to architectural possibilities and manifestations. In other words, the use of mathematical surfaces, interspersed with state of the art LED technologies, here allowed us to produce what is effectively an optic agent of space making as much as an artefact to perceive and enjoy both visually and intellectually. - Hani Rashid / Asymptote.
Avantgarde Collection / Hani Rashid Hani Rashid and his partner Lise Anne Couture founded Asymptote in New York in 1989 as a studio for architecture and art. The scope of their projects ranges from architecture, master planning, and art installations to digital environments, exhibitions, and product designs. Hani Rashid was one of official US representatives in the American pavilion at the Venice Architectural Biennial in 2000. In 2004 he started to hold a chair at the Cátedra Luis Barragán in Monterrey, Mexico. In the same year, Asymptote was chosen as Architects of the 9th International Architectural Biennial in Venice and awared the Friedrich Kiesler Prize for its artistic and cultural achievements. Hani Rashid has been a visiting professor and lecturer at various universities, including the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles, the Graduate School of Design in Harvard, and the Berlage Institute in the Netherlands. Hani Rashid has been teaching at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture since 1989. There he was a co-founder of the Advanced Digital Design Program (1992) and the Digital Design Initiative (1995). Currently, Hani Rashid also is a professor at the department of architecture at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich. In 1996 Hani Rashid and his team at Asymptote designed the Virtual Trading Floor for the New York Stock Exchange, and in 1998 they conceived a virtual museum for the curators of Solomon R. Guggenheim. His most recent projects include the prize-winning Hydra Pier in the Netherlands, the Turf Club Master Plan in Penang (Malaysia), and the new Guggenheim Museum in Guadalajara (Mexiko). Currently, Asymptote is working on a business and culture park in Penang, a chapel and auditorium in the Netherlands, the master plan for the city of Monterrey in Mexico, and an office building in Budapest. Moreover, Asymptote has won commissions to build luxury apartments both in Abu Dhabi and New York. The works by Asymptote are on display in private and public permanent collections all over the world, such as at the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums, the Pinakothek in Munich, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the FRAC Centre in Orléans. Projects and installations by Asymptote were on display within the framework of the Biennials in Valencia (2003), Beijing (2005), and Venice (1996, 2000, and 2004), as well as at the 2006 Milan Triennial. In 2002 Asymptote was represented with a huge installation at the 11th Dokumenta in Kassel, Germany.

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