SOZOU studio’s Ambient New Lighting Series

“By using both rough-cast and frosted glass, the specific diffused light doesn’t overwhelm but casts a gentle, nostalgic sense of ambience.”

A year in the making, the collection was initiated in 2023 with the metal-based Heavy Hat. Designers Kohtaroh Colwell-Matsuura and Stefano Verdi’s initial focus for the series was metal, before they expanded the Heavy Hat concept to also use traditional rough-cast and frosted glass. Each of the three designs within the series is available in a range of glass and metal finishes. Both types of glass are sourced from a local supplier.

“These lamp forms are designed to be soft anchors of focal points within space,” says Colwell-Matsuura. “By using both rough-cast and frosted glass, the specific diffused light doesn’t overwhelm but casts a gentle, nostalgic sense of ambience.” The Heavy Hat is a pendant, its design rooted in the swinging side panels that refract light throughout the room. Its size complements larger communal spaces such as living and dining rooms.

“There is a distinct beauty in forms of simple geometry which we all are instinctively attracted to.”

SOZOU’s attraction to geometric shapes finds its purest form in Hood, an elegant wall fixture that unites triangles, rectangles and a sphere. “There is a distinct beauty in forms of simple geometry which we all are instinctively attracted to,” says Colwell-Matsuura. Hood’s gently diffused light, which is cast in multiple directions at once, is well-suited to corridors, living spaces, bedrooms and vanities.

Stamp, meanwhile, is designed for flat surfaces – side tables, desks and consoles – and is sturdy yet delicate, illuminating spaces with its soft lighting. Every piece designed by SOZOU begins with a concept the studio’s founders find comfort in. From there, the duo collaborate to work through ideas of architecture, traditional designs and what is happening in the world right now, translating them into hands-on experimentations using the materials in their studio. Finally, sketches and CAD models – and plenty of back-and-forth discussion – culminate in prototypes and, finally, a finished product.

“It is always important to us that we are true to the original concept in the final outcome.”

“Throughout each stage, there is continuous iteration and refinement, but it is always important to us that we are true to the original concept in the final outcome,” says Colwell-Matsuura.