luis eslava: armadillo and LZF studio visit

lzf studio in valencia, spain
image © designboom


for the event of this year's valencia disseny week, spanish lighting company lzf has created 'armadillo',
a suspension lamp composed of many layers of polywood, the company's signature material.
designed by luis eslava, the lamp is featured as the focal point of the lzf booth at feria habitat valencia
which utilized more than 4000 wood veneer squares to clad the wall exhibition space.

polywood is essentially thin wood veneers treated with polymer to seal and strengthen it.
the resulting material is flexible and strong, yet thin enough to gently filter the light when lit
from behind. this method allows the studio to create designs that are often curvy and voluminous,
yet still natural in aesthetics and feel. the collaborative company hand-makes each product at
their workshop in chiva, a spanish village just outside of valencia.



a prototype of 'armadillo' in the lzf studio
image © designboom


designboom, invited among other publishers and contributors of international design blogs and online magazines
- to the feed program, the 'first international design media and bloggers meeting' - visited the studio, which is based out of a former winery facility. 



polywood squares
image © designboom



iterations of the lamp
image © designboom



testing the fish scale pattern
image © designboom



'armadillo' at lzf booth at the feria valencia
image © designboom



detail of the layered polywood
image © designboom



exhibition view
image © designboom



founders of lzf, marivi calvi and sandro tothill
portrait © designboom



'guijarros' wall lights by marivi calvi
image © designboom



'onion' suspension lamp by bang design (2008)
image © designboom



detail
image © designboom



lzf studio space
image © designboom



workshop
image © designboom



making of 'poppy' designed by burkhard dämmer (2008)
production shot
image © designboom



making of 'saturnia' designed by oskar cerezo
image © designboom



video of lzf studio