Composed through shadow and mass
Counterweighted pendant in cast iron, mahogany, walnut, and white oak veneers, and steel hardware. Designed as a study in shadow, balance, and atmospheric illumination. As well as an exploration of the iron casting process and pattern board construction.
PENUMBRA | Lighting as Architectural Jewelry
Penumbra investigates the relationship between shadow and suspended equilibrium through an exposed counterweight system. Drawing from celestial-adjacent visual language and industrial mechanics, the piece balances visual mass with atmospheric illumination to create a quiet architectural presence.
(2026)
Mahogany, cast iron, and lighting components
Process: Design Development
Form Exploration
Early tests began with sketches and half scale counterweight prototypes.
Fabrication: Pattern Board
Pattern pieces for Penumbra’s castings were fabricated as Maple and Ash hardwood split turnings
Pattern Component 01: Canopy
Canopy turned out of ash.
The blank was turned as one piece according to orthographic drawings accounting for the rabbet and hardware necessary to install the pattern buck onto the board.
The bucks was inset to a cavity on the pattern board in order to optimize the plumbing and reduce the need for post-processing on final castings.
Pattern Component 02: Second Ceiling Attachment
Attachment piece turned out of Ash.
This buck was turned was a split turning to allow for registration onto the pattern board’s cope and drag
Pattern Piece 03: Counterweight
The counterweight is a scaled up version of the early form test, also turned as a split turning to allow for aligned registration onto the cope and drag of the pattern board.
Final Pattern Boards
Board utilizing cores
Cope side.
Straight-pull board
Drag side. Pattern piece is inset and plumbing is on the cope of the board.
Fabrication: Casting Post-processing
Post-processing involved chasing and grinding to clean up the gating, parting line, and flash on the castings.
The castings were then drilled and tapped for the necessary hardware used to install the components on a ceiling.
Lastly, the iron was darkened with stovetop polish and finished with paste wax
Like bodies suspended in orbit, Penumbra appears simultaneously grounded and weightless. The form is restrained, atmospheric, and materiality honest—drawing from industrial processes and celestial geometry.
Designed for interiors that value permanence, proportion, and quiet presence, existing between lighting and sculpture.