Amplify, a chandelier concept created by Yves Behar FuseProject for Swarovski.

nadja swarovski and yves behar

The crystal company usually commissions insanely expensive, one off pieces for Milan–you can see some of this year’s works here and here–but Fuseproject chose another path. Rather than creating something so expensive that no one can possibly ever buy it, they created a crystal chandelier that was sustainable and “accessible to all.”

They did that by using a single crystal to refract the light from a low-energy LED. The glittering refractions form the crystal are then captured, using a faceted paper shade. Thus, you get the optical impact of a big fancy chandelier, without the massive cost, materials expense, and labor.

Having recently unveiled a sustainable shoe boxfor Puma, the environmentally friendly FuseProject were also at this year’s Salone in Milan, showing off sustainable crystal.

2010 marks their fourth collaboration with Swarovski Crystal Palace and they were keen to do something different this time around. Their response is this ‘Amplify’ concept.

Traditional chandeliers are made of numerous lights and crystals, but Fuseproject changed this equation into 1 crystal + 1 low energy LED light + a faceted paper shade = Amplified sparkle.

The effect of light hitting the crystal can be seen on the faceted shade material; multiple beautiful reflections and rainbow colour bursts are just what is expected from crystal, but this time the effect is amplified to get the most out of just one crystal.

For the Swarovski Crystal Palace launch event in Milan, 50 Amplify chandeliers were displayed in a black lacquered room as a large sculptural cluster and the effect was seriously high-impact.

Each chandelier (there are 5 different shapes) becomes its’ own large glowing crystal and will be available from Swarovski in the next year.

Low-cost, energy efficient and accessible crystal chandeliers. What’s not to love?