Rasmus Markholt is the CEO of the revived lighting company LYFA. The Copenhagen Chandelier Factory was closed down in 1998, but in 2020, it was relaunched and the classic designs has come back in stock - also here at Andlight.
We had a talk with Rasmus Markholt about his attitude towards lighting and he gives you his best tups for decorating with light and how you create well-being and functionality with light.
Photo: Rasmus Markholt
Rasmus Markholt has revived the historical LYFA that was closed down in 1998. LYFA (originally Copenhagen Chandelier Factory) has relaunched many of their old classics and has quickly won back its place in the design industry. Rasmus Markholt shares his thoughts on design and gives good tips for decorating professionally with light in your home.
What does light and design mean to you?
"When you work with light and design, it naturally plays a big role in my everyday life. Lighting is crucial for creating the right feeling in a room. An even light in the entire room, makes the room feel flat.
Light is best, when it works in interplay with shadows. When light and darkness meets, you can create evocative rooms that come alive.
Good design helps to give the light form, make the lamp beautiful to look at and make the room pleasant to be in. I believe that lighting should be comfortable for several of our senses and therefore, lighting design to me is closely tied with well-being."
What do you find especially interesting with working specifically with designer lighting, as opposed to other forms of design?
"There are many different categories, functions and purposes within lighting - and by changing sizes, materials and design, the light and the lamp also changes significantly. For example, you can work with softening the luminance of a lamp and create different tones in the light. I find that especially interesting with designer lighting.
On other forms of design, you cannot work as much with shaping, because, on a dining table chair, you have to follow some standards, in order to achieve proper comfort. With lamps, there is more room for playing around to find a comfortable eye-comfort - and for me, this playground will always be interesting to keep discovering.
You can create little islands and different light levels in a room, where you can play around with the expression and the light experience. I think this is special for lighting and makes this field of design interesting to move around in.
In addition, there is always the question of when lighting is great - and when the light experience is bad? Can a lamp design be especially good or simply bad? This is a professional discussion that I still find interesting with working in lighting design."
"Light is best, when it works in interplay with shadows. When light and darkness meets, you can create evocative rooms that come alive"
Photo: LYFA DIVAN 2 245 Pendant
What considerations do you have about incorporating both aesthetics and the technical aspect in designer lamps?
"Aesthetics and technology is essential in my trade. Within the last ten years, there has been a huge development in light sources and how they can be adapted to the specific lamp and its placement in the room.
Therefore, it's not just about designing a nice looking lamp - we work from the idea that form follows function and that is why it is absolutely necessary that aesthetics and technology merge in a meaningful way."
When do you experience that light is most important for you, in your everyday life?
"During a day, there are different needs - the soft light in the morning, the direct working light during the day and the comfortable light around the table at night. Light helps kick-start the morning, just like when the sun is beaming through the windows.
During the dark winter months, lamps and good lighting helps you to start the day in a comfortable way. I think, like myself, there are many people that know exactly which lamp is best to turn on, to avoid getting blown away by the light. Sharp and direct light is rarely the best start of your day.
In addition, lighting is very important to me, during cosy dinner parties around the dining table - especially when the atmosphere is more festive. Red wine just tastes better in a dim light. In the olden days, people connected around the bonfire. In the light of the flames, a community and an atmosphere was created.
The same applies to a dining table lamp - it should invite you to gathering around the table and it should invite to dialogue and closeness, as if it was a bonfire on a summer night."
"Lighting is very important to me, during cosy dinner parties around the dining table. Red wine just tastes better in a dim light"
Photo: LYFA REPOSE Pendant 260
Why does quality of light matter to you?
"Lighting quality to me, is to choose lamps with care and trying to create the best surroundings for yourself and your guests. This applies, both in your own home or at the office, a restaurant or a hotel room.
Lighting affects many of our senses and therefore, the light experience and quality - whether good or bad - has a direct impact on the feeling in the room."
What is the typical mistake that you see with private consumers, when they decorate with light?
"I typically see the mistake of buying a large and beautiful lamp - but when it comes to the light source, you just find a random light source that you have lying around. "As long as it's the right socket size, it'll be fine". This is a big mistake. The light source is so important to get the best light experience with every single lamp. This applies especially to the lumen, the form and the type of light source, which affects the spreading of the light.
Furthermore, I see a typical problem with finding the optimal height for a pendant - it's a balance between hiding the light source to achieve a glare-free light and ensure that there is still light access under the lamp, if it's hanging above a dining table.
A lot of people choose to hang pendants a little too high, to be sure, but this often results in the lamp blinding you, when you look at it from below.
We say that, as a rule of thumb, you should hang the pendant above the dining table, approximately 65 cm from the table top to the bottom of the lamp. This way, you can't go completely wrong and you also create a coherence between chairs, table and lamp. A space is created with three elements."
Photo: LYFA PEANUT 250 Pendant
How do we place and use our lighting in the best way in our homes?
"Pendants can be used in almost any room, but think carefully about how wall, table and floor lamps can be used to create small spaces in the room. A floor lamp is often not the primary light source in a room, but it can add a lot of ambience by, for example, lighting up a dark corner of the room.
In workzones, like above the kitchen counter or by a desk, a focused light is the right choice. If, however, you're missing general lighting in the room, it's a good idea to choose a lamp with a diffused light that spread the light in all directions.
When choosing lamps for your home, always look at the architecture of the house, the dimensions of the room and the furniture in your interior. Large lamps are good for big rooms with a high ceiling - but a pendant should not steal all the attention from the size of the dining table or, the other way around, if the pendant gets too small to light up the whole table.
Assess the best size for the room and if you don't want large pendant, you can choose to use two or more small pendants to hang in a row that, at the same time, gives the room some depth."
Can you mention one thing that you do in your everyday life that clearly show that you work with design and designer lighting on a daily basis?
"I always look up, when I come inside a new home or a new place. I quickly scan the room and look at the lamps and in my head, I will go through which lamps it is, who designed them and which type of light they give off. A clear occupational hazard that I probably never will let go."
Photo: LYFA REPOSE Table Lamp 175
Explore LYFA's designs here.
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