Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken is famous for his lighting concepts, and already in 2008 he won the prize for the best piece of furniture at the Milan fair with his “Surface daylight”, which is about creating a subconscious feeling of sunlight in a room. Learn more about the Norwegian designer who has seen the light.
Born in 1984, Daniel Rybakken grew up in Oslo, Norway. He studied design at the Oslo School of Architecture and the School of Arts & Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden. On graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 2008 he opened his own design studio in both Oslo and Gothenburg.
Related: Norwegian Forest Lamps
Rybakken has now been established on the international design scene for over a decade. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, he has created products with manufacturers including Italian lighting brand Luceplan, Danish homeware label Hay and Finnish furniture company Artek.
Surface Daylight from 2008 consisted of two flat pieces that stood leaning against a wall where the light came from diodes under the surface of the plate.
Rybakken has received numerous awards, including the ‘Best of the Best’ Red Dot Award in Singapore, 2007; the Anders Jahre’s Cultural Prize for Young Artists in Oslo, 2008; and the Design Report Award for best designer at Salone Satellite in Milan, 2009.
Related: Danish designer and architect – a specialist in versatility
In collaboration with the Italian lightening brand in 2020, he designed the Casette family of lamps. Cassette is the result of research on form to generate a slim, minimalist lighting fixture with a large, uniform luminous surface, but also an object with which to make compositions on multiple levels, conveying a pleasing sense of depth.
Cassette is the tenth collection created by the designer for the company. Luceplan has thus decided to make this long, fertile collaboration the theme of its event for design week in Milan.
Cassette, like the previous products by the designer, including two winners of the Compassi d’Oro, reflects intense affinities that have led, on each occasion, to the exploration of new facets and virtues of lighting design, both in technical and aesthetic terms.
Related: Portrait of a Norwegian Designer
The work of Daniel Rybakken occupies the area between art and design, forming limited editions, art installations and prototypes for serial production. His main focus has been to work with daylight and how to artificially recreate its appearance and subconscious effect.
The Norwegian Designer who has Seen the Light, written by Tor Kjolberg
Feature image (on top): Daniel Rybakken with the Casette Lamp designed for Luceplan.