Blown Spheres On An Extruded Bar

Luce Sferica by Ronan Bouroullec for Flos. Modular suspension. Glass spheres ~180 mm. Dual LED strips. Touch dimmer. Three lengths.

Flos introduced Luce Sferica and Luce Cilindrica as new modular suspensions designed by Ronan Bouroullec. The spine of both is a polished extruded aluminium profile. Inside that profile sit two LED strips. One emits light upward. The other emits light downward. A discreet touch dimmer at one end of the bar controls the two outputs independently. On Luce Sferica the aluminium is encased in a sequence of mouth-blown transparent glass spheres. Each sphere measures approximately 180 mm in diameter. Traditional spacers separate them so the spheres read as a chain rather than a continuous tube. The glass is the handcrafted element. The extrusion, the LEDs, and the dimmer are the industrial ones.

Bouroullec’s statement on the Flos page reads: “Luce Sferica is a lamp that seeks delicacy and the beauty of the little things, like raindrops clinging to a wire or a soap bubble blown by a child. Mouth-blown glass spheres glide along the extruded aluminium base as gently as a bubble settling on a wire. Softness, magic, and technical sophistication prevail here. An object of great technical precision, it conveys poetry and fragile beauty more than synthetic mechanics.”

The lamp is available in three lengths labelled S1, S2, and S3. Those lengths run from roughly 1.5 metres to 2.5 metres. Multiple units can be installed in parallel rows. The light is diffused. The rating is IP20. The lamp is for indoor use. Photography published with the Flos pages is credited to Robert Rieger.

Signal. What happened: Flos rel Luce Sferica, a modular suspension by Ronan Bouroullec. Exact product: extruded aluminium bar carrying dual independent LED strips and a touch dimmer, wrapped in mouth-blown glass spheres of about 180 mm. Sister model: Luce Cilindrica, same aluminium system with borosilicate glass cylinders. Source: Flos product and story pages. Why it matters: hand-blown spheres placed on a precise extrusion, with a published quote that names raindrops and a soap bubble.

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The horizontal aluminium profile is the structural and electrical core. It is extruded, then polished. Two LED strips are housed inside it. One strip faces upward. The other faces downward. The touch dimmer sits at one end and allows each strip to be adjusted on its own. That independent control is the functional detail that sits under the glass. The spheres do not contain the light source. They surround the aluminium and diffuse whatever the LEDs emit. Spacers keep each sphere separate from the next. The result is a linear sequence rather than a solid glass tube. The same aluminium spine is used for Luce Cilindrica. On that version the spheres are replaced by slender cylinders made of borosilicate glass. The cylinders are chosen for transparency, lightness, and resistance. Both versions share the three length options and the capacity to be hung in parallel rows.

 

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Retail place starting prices in the mid-thousands of pounds or dollars, varying by length and market. Some dealers list lead times measured in weeks. At least one US listing notes that UL certification can be added for an extra fee and additional time. Those are distribution details. The object itself remains the extrusion, the two LED strips, the dimmer, and the sequence of blown spheres or cylinders.

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The spheres are mouth-blown. The technique is the traditional one that produces thin, nearly weightless forms. Bouroullec’s quote on the Flos page compares them to raindrops on a wire and to a soap bubble settling on a thread. The line is published with the lamp. It describes the view effect of the spheres resting on the bar rather than a technical specification. The aluminium is industrial. The glass is the older craft. The combination is what the Flos text calls a balance of precision and flow. No other designer is credited on either lamp. The photography that accompanies the pages is by Robert Rieger.

Luce Sferica is the sphere version. Luce Cilindrica is the cylinder version of the same system. Both are modular. Both carry the dual independent LEDs and the touch dimmer. The published details that go beyond the product name are the approximate 180 mm sphere diameter, the three length options between roughly 1.5 and 2.5 metres, the independent up and down emission, and the quote that places a soap bubble on a wire.