Wall Lights
Manufeactured by Ateliers Saint‑Jacques
France, 1992
Polished nickel steel, Enamel

Measurements
22 x 25 x 49h cm
8,7 x 9,8 x 19,3h in

Provenance
Originally designed for a private mansion in the 16th arrondissement of Paris

About
This rare pair of French wall lights was designed in 1992 by visionary architect Claude Parent for a private residential commission in Paris. Crafted from polished nickel steel, each light features a striking globe form, elegantly finished in reflective nickel on the outside and white enamel on the inside to amplify the glow. The sculptural geometry and refined materiality of the pieces reflect Parent’s modernist architectural principles translated into lighting design.

Biography
Claude Parent (1923–2016) was one of the most visionary and influential figures of 20th-century French architecture, renowned for his radical thinking and experimental approach to space, both at the urban scale and in domestic environments. Though primarily celebrated for his architectural contributions, Parent also ventured into the world of design, creating furniture and lighting objects that resonate with the same conceptual rigor and sculptural presence as his built work.
A pivotal moment in his career came with the development of the “function oblique” theory in the 1960s, a revolutionary concept that proposed replacing flat floors and right angles with inclined planes and dynamic spatial geometries. This theory sought to alter the way humans relate to and move within space, and it underpinned much of his architectural and design output. Parent's commitment to challenging orthodoxy translated into a body of work that blurs the boundaries between architecture, sculpture, and design.
In the 1990s, Parent began translating his architectural principles into lighting and furniture pieces, often created for private commissions. Among these works is a rare pair of wall lights designed in 1992 for a mansion in Paris’s prestigious 16th arrondissement. Crafted from polished nickel-plated steel, with spherical reflectors enamelled in white on the inside, the lights exemplify Parent’s talent for transforming utilitarian objects into minimal, monolithic forms. These pieces were fabricated by Ateliers Saint-Jacques, whose artisanal expertise allowed Parent’s designs to retain a raw yet refined materiality.