On our first visit to the new Occhio showroom, situated across the street from the iconic Michelin House on London’s Fulham Road, we were posed an intriguing question. What would our preferred lighting setting be? Morning-sun kiss? Energetic working atmosphere? Cosy dining ambience? It’s a typical query from a company that takes lighting, and the very real effect it can have on our moods, seriously.
Founded in 1999 by Axel Meise, Occhio began with a big idea and one product: the ‘Puro’. Created by Meise and his design partner Christoph Kügler, the lamp was originally named Occhio (the Italian word for eye) and, after it was shown at a trade fair in Cologne that year, its holistic, modular approach to lighting cemented the company’s ethos.
Having studied mechanical engineering, Meise had long been experimenting with light – he was developing prototype lamps even as a teenager – but with Occhio he began his mission to offer perfect lighting solutions. His benchmark for that perfection is sunlight.
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What if you could recreate natural light, but offer total control? Since the ‘Puro’, that has been the aim for each one of Occhio’s products. ‘Sento’, which was released in 2004, was its first lamp to offer adjustable lighting effects and colour temperatures (cool light to aid concentration or warm for relaxation). Then, in 2017, ‘Mito’ landed – a stylish, ring-shaped light that added gesture control for more seamless interactions.
The innovation hasn’t stopped since: last year, the brand introduced ‘Gioia’, a table lamp that allows full control when it comes to directing and focusing light (both the body and light source can be rotated 360 degrees). Plus, with Occhio’s ‘Air Plus’ functionality, you can co-ordinate lighting moods across a whole home utilising Bluetooth connectivity, or use motion detection to automatically turn lights on and off as if by magic.
The best way to understand what Meise calls Occhio’s ‘culture of light’ is to chat to the experts in the new showroom, designed by Munich-based architects 1zu33. There, in the light lab, you can discover your own lighting preferences. It’s a very personal choice, believes Meise, adding that, ‘Our lighting is not meant to illuminate a room, but to make a living space shine.’ occhio.com
