Spanish designer Eli Gutierrez worked with LZF to create the handsome Omma and Kasa lighting collections. Born in Valencia, Gutierrez is a self-described nomad, having lived, studied, and worked in several cities. A passion for design and the desire to explore took her to London, where she enrolled at the prestigious Royal College of Art. Gutierrez pursued a master’s in Product Design, in an environment that encouraged her to think openly about work and life goals.

With a master’s degree in hand, Eli Gutierrez moved to Milan in 2006 to work with Spanish architect and designer Patricia Urquiola (at a time when Urquiola’s star was very much on the rise). She then relocated to Paris, where she worked with French interior design maverick Philippe Starck and Iranian-French architect and designer India Mahdavi. Working with Urquiola, Starck, and Mahdavi afforded Gutierrez the opportunity to experience a range of design disciplines, including interior design, furniture design, and electronics. She later established the eponymous Eli Gutierrez Studio in 2016.

Imagining Omma

In her capacity as a designer, Eli Gutierrez relishes working on novel projects and experimenting with new materials. She enjoys a challenge and delights in the freedom to express herself creatively. The presentation of two imaginative lighting concepts to LZF was Gutierrez’s first foray into lighting design. She particularly appreciates the way in which LZF works with natural wood veneer, values the company’s affable disposition, and respects its craft-oriented approach to design.

When presenting Kasa and Omma to LZF, Eli Gutierrez was keen to experiment with the transformation of a two-dimensional material—i.e. wood veneer—into a three-dimensional structure. Omma’s design is especially poetic. As a designer, Gutierrez’s initial ideas are inspired by touching the material and playing with it: her approach is tactile, hands-on, exploratory. Gutierrez imagined leaves, like an open book, where wood comes from a tree and paper comes from wood—everything is connected. She added metal to give the lamp a three-dimensional aspect, creating a leaf of light. Understanding the possibilities of LZF’s natural wood veneer, Gutierrez worked to incorporate movement, making the light directional.

Omma is a comprehensive lighting collection with a number of models: Omma Long Leaf, Omma Suspension (two leaves, three leaves, and double-two leaves), Omma Table (one leaf and two leaves), Omma Floor, and Omma Wall. When designing the collection, Gutierrez started with the wall version—from here, she then thought about making the lamp modular, movable, and flexible.

GOOD DESIGN Award 2022

The Omma Suspension was a winner of a prestigious GOOD DESIGN Award 2022. The award is presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design and Metropolitan Arts Press
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