Bocci was established in Vancouver, Canada, in 2005 and is run by entrepreneur Randy Bishop and designer Omer Arbel, responsible for all product design. They met earlier that year at New York Design Week, where Arbel exhibited five early prototypes of Series 14.

They were already acquainted, as Bishop had hired Arbel to design his exclusive Vancouver home ceiling, but now their paths crossed again by chance. This was the start of the Bocci brand, which they established shortly afterwards. Under the creative direction of Omer Arbel, they immediately began production of Series 14.

The design revolves around the small glass globe made of two handmade borosilicate glass hemispheres. The globe has a cylindrical frosted interior that holds the light source. Series 14 is available in a variety of constellations ranging from 1 to 36 light globes. 14 became an instant classic and today is one of Bocci’s best sellers, sold in more than 40 countries.

Modern sculptural lighting from Vancouver, Canada

Since its inception, Bocci has focused on creating unique lighting designs under the creative leadership of Omer Arbel. They specialize in modern pendant lamps and unconventional lighting installations that are handcrafted through innovative manufacturing methods.

Arbel’s fundamental starting point in the design process is his fascination with the mechanical, physical and chemical properties of glass. Among other things, he has developed a glass foam by blowing air bubbles into the glass mass to create unique shapes and effects, a technique he used to create Series 57. The result was organically shaped small lamp globes that are both exciting and pleasant to look at. He used these to create two large cloud-shaped constellations that were presented at Milan Design Week, and Series 57 has since been expanded with a number of designs.

Bocci’s clean and elegant esthetic opens up many new uses and functions of lighting design. Their extensive portfolio of sculptural lighting is a result of their control over the entire production chain. All manufacturing is done by hand at Bocci, which ten years after its establishment opened a branch in Berlin, the first outside North America. The old courthouse, converted into a showroom and archive, showcases Omer Arbel’s designs that span a decade, from initial development, to prototypes and ideas, to production of Bocci products. Explore Bocci online at NO-GA.