Will Meyer and Gray Davis consider themselves “maniacs” about the lighting in the spaces they design. If nothing else, Mr. Meyer, 45, said, “It needs to make people look attractive.”

But whenever possible, it should do a lot more. That’s why their fixture of choice is often a pendant light — something that can be seen in the interiors of the Paramount Hotel and the restaurant Harlow in New York, projects recently completed by their firm, Meyer Davis Studio.

Pendant fixtures have so many functions, Mr. Davis, 50, explained. “We like the sculptural aspect,” he said. And “they can be the focal point of a room, or can bring intimacy to a space.”

And in hotel projects, he added, “We use them on each side of the bed, which frees up space on bedside tables.”

Among their favorites are the hanging fixtures designed by Isamu Noguchi in the 1950s, which they have in their own homes. So they were excited to see Issey Miyake’s IN-EI lamps, a contemporary version of that classic design, artfully arrayed in the window at Artemide, in SoHo.

As Mr. Meyer said: “It’s really difficult to take an idea of something that everybody knows about and successfully reinvent that. This is one of the few we’ve seen that does something interesting.”

The design wasn’t the only thing that was reinvented, Mr. Davis pointed out. “They’re made of recycled PET bottles,” he said, referring to the reusable plastic.

They also liked the Coltrane suspension lamp, from the Portuguese company Delightfull, a dynamic piece they chose for the lobby of the Paramount Hotel. The effect it creates, Mr. Meyer said, is “almost like looking into a flying flock of birds.”

The Block 2 from Minotti, by Henry Pilcher, an Australian designer, is another “totally cool” fixture, he said. “It is an amazing evolution of those industrial factory lights we’ve all seen.”

The two men are also fans of Roll & Hill, a Brooklyn manufacturer whose fixtures they have put in a number of Meyer Davis projects. The Halo Oval Pendant by Paul Loebach, available through Matter in SoHo, is a good example of what makes them so interesting, Mr. Meyer said. “The scale is large,” he said, “but the actual light source is delicate and small” — something might not be obvious if you see it online.

Mr. Davis offered a more romantic perspective. “It’s a piece of jewelry that lights up,” he said. “Like a beautiful necklace.”

Via : Unique Blog