Introducing Violaine d’Harcourt: Lighting that resists time and trends
people • makers
Violaine d’Harcourt is a French lighting designer born in Paris in 1987. She studied design and architecture in l’école Camondo in Paris then Scuola Politecnica in Milano. After some work experiences at studios of Jacopo Foggini, Federico Churba and Galerie Kreo, she started to draw and produce her own lightings in 2013, producing small series with craftsmen from different places of Europe. Since 2021 she moved her studio to Lisbon, and she relocated all her production in Portugal whose quality materials and know-how have made it renowned for decades. She is convinced that lighting is the essential element to enhance the atmosphere of a living space. With this objective, she focuses on giving life to lighting fixtures with character, whose geometry, color and light are precisely studied for the best possible result. She likes to see each of her lights as the character of a story that would be enriched over the years, and which complement each other.
WEBSITE: violainedharcourt.com INSTAGRAM: @violaine_dharcourt
Words: designeers
September 2018
designeers
Describe what you do:
violaine
I design lightings, going through all the necessary steps to bring a lamp to life : sketching, modelling, developing, producing and selling. It’s a long and complex process but it’s also very rewarding. A finalized lamp which gives the expected effect to the user is always a great satisfaction.
designeers
How would you describe your style?
violaine
I don’t know if we can call it a style but I would say that my work relies on geometry. Every project is a new experimentation where I am working on finding the right balance between shape, color, light and texture. I am willing to create lightings that resist time but also trends.
designeers
The most important object you have designed so far?
violaine
I design lamps because I think they are essential to shape the atmosphere of an interior. If you already have an efficient ceiling spot to enlight a room, a beautiful lamp is not vital, but it is definitely necessary to add to the space a beautiful atmosphere. A warm and soft light can enhance any room, even with the most basic furniture. The magic of the candlelight can also be provided by lamps, that’s what I wanted to bring with my Alcove wall lights.
designeers
Sources of creative desire:
violaine
Life feeds creativity in all kinds of ways. The key being that you have to leave your home. Everything that nourishes the eyes nourishes the desire to create, to revisit, to reinvent. The objective is then to synthesize these desires into product that makes sense. Today more than ever, we must limit production and favor the necessary essentials.
designeers
What do you do when you're not working?
violaine
At the moment, when I am not working, I am roaming Portugal which is an amazing country to nourish creativity. I arrived in Lisbon 2 years ago with my family. The light here is really special, particularly the winter light.
“Everything that nourishes the eyes nourishes the desire to create, to revisit, to reinvent.”
violaine d’harcourt
designeers
Favourite hotel in the world:
vioaline
I have very nice memories of Ryokan hotels in Kyoto. It’s a concentrate of Japanese aesthetics and it shows their very special sense of hospitality. It's a memorable experience for anyone sensitive to this culture.
designeers
Design hero:
vioaline
As a lighting designer hero, Isamu Noguchi without any doubt. He succeeded in sublimating light and paper to the point of making his lamps into luminous, almost personified sculptures.
designeers
Penthouse or townhouse?
vioaline
Penthouse. It’s like living In a house but closer to the sky.
designeers
On your coffee table right now:
vioaline
Right now, I don’t have a coffee table but the one I spotted for my next home is a brutalist one from the 60s, in oak and glass. We’ll see later what will land on it.
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