(Archive) ''Home is where the Heart is''

Scalable lighting system

“Home is Where the Heart Is” is an exhibition that pays homage to the studio’s beloved Eindhoven and marks the first time the much-loved designers will return to their favourite city since moving their studio to a ten times larger space, packed with potential in nearby Breda. Liiu, which was shortlisted for a 2023 Dezeen award, is VANTOT’s flexible suspension lamp system. It will lie at the heart of this new exhibition showing at Kazerne – the design platform in central Eindhoven that since 2014 has provided a collaborative ecosystem to both support and shape the evolution of Dutch design.

VANTOT started working on Liiu during Covid lockdowns in 2020 and first showed the poetic, lightweight and moveable installations in Milan in 2021. Their first vision was to create huge sculptural installations comprising up to 500 elements for hotels and hospitality foyers. The pieces are scalable, and also suitable to be used in smaller domestic settings using as few as two elements.

Liiu x Luceplan

But no matter the size, the basic Liiu structure is composed of electrified steel wires fastened to the ceiling and held in constant tension by counter-weights. The bodies of the lamps are positioned on the cables by means of two very light arms that support the luminous head and feature a spiral at the extremity.

The Liiu design including the technology and elements was recently bought by Italian lighting company Luceplan who will produce and sell while leaving VANTOT scope to collaborate, use and develop their design further. This is a perfect balance that allows an independent studio to grow without compromising its artistic freedom, while leaving much of the legal, administrative and commercial details to someone else.

Eindhoven DNA

And it’s not without some sentiment that VANTOT will come back to Eindhoven to show “Home Where Is the Heart Is” to their formative design home that’s plays such an important creative and intellectual space for Dutch design. It’s where the duo were educated, and where they met. It’s also an incomparable and interdisciplinary design village that fully formed the studio’s design DNA. It’s a city that marries creativity, research, technology, local expertise, production and an exchange of knowledge that moves beyond mere words. Since Liiu’s ineption, VANTOT has been in conversation with local component makers who in turn are influenced and inspired by the designer’s vision. In Eindhoven collaboration is key.

In the new Breda space VANTOT plans to continue their innovative and creative approach to illuminating spaces, while convincing other Dutch creatives to follow. Affordable housing and an abundance of nature are draws that VANTOT hope will mean their new home will develop into the next Dutch cultural hub.

No matter their location, VANTOT will continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in the field of lighting design, with projects and research.