Niche Modern

The same year that Pyles and Welch devised Stamen, they were persuaded by clients to offer their wares on a larger scale. After their designs drew raves at ICFF, Niche Modern began to expand their line. While the collection continues to highlight the beautiful interplay between blown glass, filament bulbs, and structural elements of exposed metal, the expanded offerings are now appropriate for a variety of venues, including residential, commercial, and hospitality environments: “made of architectural quality hand-blown glass, the shapes are thoroughly modern yet classic.”

• Pendant Lighting — Niche Modern’s Modern Pendant Lights are beautiful and versatile. Each of the 14 models in the Pendant Light line feature the exquisite sensuality of hand blown glass and the urban allure of exposed filament bulbs. The line offers a variety of shapes and colors. Bell Jar presents a broad cylindrical form in an alluring shade of smoky gray; Housing twin circular filaments within a perfect sphere, Binary evokes the unseen beauty of biological processes, as its binary configuration is suggestive of cellular division.
• Hero — As Kimball Office says, “Everyone needs a hero.” Office workers will discover one in the form of the exciting and ergonomical Hero Task Chair. Featuring a tall profile and a lean silhouette, Hero “rises above” the standard in workplace seating. Hero boasts many features that improve user position and reduce habitual strain. An autofit mechanism intuitively adjusts for weight and height; seat depth adjustments provide fine-tuning for user preference and different leg lengths; height-adjustable low- and mid-back lumbar supports match the natural curve of the spine, thus making seated positions more natural. Hero is available in a wide range of fabrics and finishes, including mesh backs in orange or black and seat upholstery in leather or fabric.
• Chandeliers— Niche Modern’s Sola Chandelier Collection combines the elegance and functionality of old world candelabras with the signature simplicity of unadorned filaments and shades. Each of Sola’s 11 models feature a circular metal canopy topped with an equal distribution of hand blown glass shades. The models are grouped according to the number of bulbs. Thus, the line encompasses everything from the rare globular blue gumdrop configuration of Quill Five to the evanescent excess of the Sola 60 upright candelabra style. Each of Niche Modern’s Chandeliers are appropriate for use in residential, commercial, or hospitality environments, yet they make an especially dramatic statement in restaurants, bars, or hotel lobbies.
• Table Lamps— Niche Modern inverts their formula for an arresting line of rare and beautiful table lamps. Respectively dubbed Boa, Constrictor, and Trumpette, each lamp bears out the aesthetic implications of the given name. Boa offers a blown glass base with a prodigious bulge mid-stem, thus approximating the digestive processes of the lamp’s namesake; Constrictor engages a similar motif, as this lamp’s sculptural silhouette features a central “waist,” evoking the Boa Constrictor’s preferred method of dispatching its prey. Trumpette departs from the theme while yet presenting an equally gorgeous base of blown glass, broadened at the bottom to simulate the mouth of this most famous of brass instruments.

While the name might suggest otherwise, the appeal of Niche Modern Lighting extends beyond the single niche of high end architectural lighting. In joining hand blown glass with exposed filaments and simple, unadorned electrical cords, the company’s products combine the rare allure of a work of art with the work-a-day appeal of nuts-and-bolts functionality. Niche Modern’s line of pendant lamps, chandeliers, and table lamps possess an impressive aesthetic variety, as the company offers these exquisite hand blown glass lightpieces in multiple shapes, sizes, and colors: “We believe that good, solid design is found in the ironic joining together of contrasting elements, simple lines and luscious colors. You can see the exchange of light and darkness, strength and delicacy, edge and elegance at play in all of our products.”