Water Lily lights up our lives

Unveiled at the recent 100% Design fair in Joburg, Water Lily had viewers coming in for a closer look and feel. This crafted work of art was conceived by Mema Designs duo Ari Geva and Sian Eliot, who produce beautiful fine lighting, using their backgrounds in industrial design and engineering.

“We wanted to create a story around lamps reflected in water, playing on themes of lightness, circular form and floating,” says Eliot, who was inspired by bobbing nasturtium leaves in her garden.

That research and development on the Water Lily lasted three years is not surprising. The lightweight, floating pendant light fitting is made from 0.2mm woven aluminium mesh, turning the notion of metal and materiality on its head. The challenge in working with the material, used for industrial filters , lay in the fact that no examples or protocol existed for the designers to use. Attached to a frame, and hand formed and pressed to give it its veiny texture, Water Lily is anodised and comes in a variety of colours.