Imagine stepping into a room illuminated by the most refined lighting fixtures. The products adorning the interior seem to recede into the surroundings. Some visitors don’t notice them, while others gaze at their unusual design. Michael Anastassiades takes this distinct appreciation as the finest compliment on his work.

A designer for Brescia, Italy-based lighting manufacturer Flos, Anastassiades began designing lighting after realizing his passion for classic fixtures found in the home. His designs feature orbs perched on polished brass spheres, cones and other geometric shapes, while others seem to float from sleek rods and bended beams. He modernizes his pieces by omitting unnecessary details, allowing the objects to stand delicately, yet independently. 

“I’m striving to achieve a level of familiarity in the language of the product,” says Anastassiades. “[My designs] are all quite unique and depict certain times in my career.”

Anastassiades grew up in Cyprus and later moved to London to pursue a degree in civil engineering. Taking a design course mid-way through his studies sparked a creative bug, and he earned a master’s degree in industrial design. Anastassiades reflects that his path from civil engineering to industrial design was out of process of elimination. He could never see himself pursuing engineering, and this mindset contributes to his design philosophy today. Eliminating as much information from a fixture, only keeping the bare essentials, is his process for creating a timeless piece.

Anastassiades notes that visitors often try to assign his products to a particular time period. However, the pieces stump onlookers with their articulate simplicity. 

Collections of his minimalist fixtures appear in displays at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Victoria and Albert Museum (London), among others.

And if clients hardly notice the pieces at all? “It means my designs fit comfortably in an environment; they look like they’re meant to be there,” explains Anastassiades. “There’s an amazing quality in that my designs don’t scream for attention.”

VMSD features three profiles on product designers from suppliers, manufacturers or distributors in the annual January Look Book issue. For more information on how to nominate a product designer to be featured in the 2018 Look Book, please contact the editorial staff via vmsd@stmediagroup.com.