Wästberg presents ‘Holocene’ candleholders by Ilse Crawford, David Chipperfield and Ingegerd Råman

Magnus Wästberg founded lighting brand Wästberg in 2008, keen to explore mankind’s relationship with light through history. His aim was to create a ‘good, holistic lighting solution that truly provides wellbeing on both a physical and emotional level’, and he did so in collaboration with some of the world’s most notable creatives, including Ilse Crawford, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Nendo and Inga Sempé.

He outlined the company’s founding principles in a manifesto titled ‘Lamps for Neanderthal Man’. ‘I explored the idea that humans lived with fire as our only artificial light source for about a million years, and electric light has been around for little more than a century: a blink of an eye in comparison,’ he says. So in 2017, as the company was about to turn ten, he decided to commission the ‘Holocene’ collection of oil lamps and candleholders, as a celebration of fire and its role as a bringer of light.

Wästberg ‘Holocene’: new designs by Ilse Crawford, David Chipperfield and Ingegerd Råman

Now, Wästberg is extending the ‘Holocene’ collection with new designs by Ilse Crawford and David Chipperfield (both contributed to the original collection), and a piece by Swedish glass designer Ingegerd Råman.

For his piece, Chipperfield played with reflections, creating a steel candleholder coated in a deep shade of red oxide. While suited to the tabletop, the piece also comes with a wall bracket, so it can be hung in front of a high-polish mirror to create a striking reflection. Crawford returned to the concept of her previous ‘Holocene’ design (an oil lamp shaped like a solid brass disc), equipped with a spike to hold a candle, and defined by a high-gloss inside finish and a brushed exterior finish. Råman was inspired by her habit of keeping a flower on her bedside table, so her design doubles as a vase for a single stem, the graceful glass tube held in place by a steel base and top.

Although conceptually different from the brand’s technology-driven lighting designs, the ‘Holocene’ pieces are crafted with the same precision, careful approach to materials and ingenuity.

‘To me both the technology-driven and the “Holocene” parts of our collection are important,’ continues Wästberg. ‘I strongly believe that many of the lighting environments that we currently spend our time in, such as our homes, benefit immensely on an emotional level from an “atmospheric accent” in the form of a candle or an oil lamp. As Paul Klee elegantly put it: “One eye sees, the other feels”.’

‘Holocene No. 5’: David Chipperfield from Wästberg, starting from £78 excl. VAT
‘Holocene No. 6’: Ilse Crawford from Wästberg, £205 excl. VAT
‘Holocene No. 7’: Ingegerd Råman from Wästberg, £240 excl. VAT

wastberg.com