Toronto-based multidisciplinary designer Ryan Taylor creates a ‘user experience’ when he executes his interactive, graphic and industrial projects in his studio, ObjectInterface. The hanging lamp gardens, pictured here, which he began producing over the last year, certainly fit that bill. In his first foray into the furnishings market, Taylor brings us Babylon plantable light fixtures, which are made of smooth, powder coated aluminum.
ESA-approved and sealed where the electrical connections pierce aluminum – so you’re safe as long as you don’t bring them into the bathtub – they’re produced locally in Toronto.
You can order the Babylon plantable light fixture as a single or a set. They come individually at $448, or a cluster of three lights for $1,375 plus shipping. The user experience, however, begins with what you plant.
“I like products and things in the real world that are interactive,” says Taylor, whose mainstay, bread-and-butter job is in online interactive work. “I like some tactile functionality […] rather than an object that you just stare at.
“With the fixtures it allows you to interact with the plants, not just hang it up.”
This design, Taylor says, was “collecting dust in a notebook” for several years before making its debut at the 2013 Interior Design Show prototype exhibition this past January. Better late than never. The Babylon received industry nods, a nice round of press and good feedback at IDS13. He now sells the lamps in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. Canadians, however, “are a tough sell.”
In the new year, Taylor is doing a run of lamps that will introduce new colours and is planning on presenting another deco prototype. Follow Taylor on Twitter to keep up-to-date with his latest.
