This is a project I collaborate on with August Kawski, Rob Guglielmo, and Josh Rivers. Professor Josh Owen connected us with Chuck Cerankosky, an alumni of the Industrial Design program from 2003. Chuck asked us to design interior lighting for Cure, a wine bar in downtown Rochester, NY. We drew inspiration from objects utilizing counterweights, tension and exposed wiring to arrive at two unique sets of fixtures. These fixtures were used as an aesthetic focal point for the venue.
The first fixture is suspended from an outdated agricultural element over the bar, and consists of several aluminum hoops that freely rotate around central cylindrical bulbs. The second set of fixtures consists of cylindrical bulbs which hang from a curved piece of raw steel.
While we did not want the lighting to reflect any specific source of inspiration, we did want to reference a number of contributing factors to the bar’s atmosphere. The lighting style we chose satisfies the unique combination of the stylistic elements Chuck had in mind and a minimalist aesthetic. The lighting also draws inspiration from agricultural equipment, and gives subtle reference to the atmosphere and local flavor of the Rochester Public Market.
The Rochester Public Market has over one-hundred years of history, and Cure is the first venue that is open in the evening when everything else is dark. The lighting for Cure provides a focal point for the carefully constructed local atmosphere, and is becoming a landmark in Rochester’s growing cultural and artistic scene
