Recently, while up on our Bay Area tour I had the pleasure of meeting with lighting design guru Jonathan Browning in his studio. Jonathan and partner Marco live and work in a fabulous loft in the South of Market area of the city. His work is showcased beautifully in the space. It was a great learning experience for me to sit down with Jonathan and discuss the ins and outs of lighting design (much of which applies to the hardware line I am designing). Jonathan is a true craftsman working with local forges and foundries to create his beautiful cast and machined brass fixtures. He sketches almost everything at full scale to make sure that every detail is taken care of and thought through. The finishing on his pieces is exquisite. Here is a photo of me and Jonathan in his loft by one of his eponymous sconces (unfortunately for me, Jonathan’s loft is soon to be photographed for another design publication so I wasn’t able to get any additional shots of the beautiful space).
And a sampling of some of his work:
His Richelieu Chandelier based on antique castings.
His Particuliere Sconce – I LOVE the glass on this piece.
His Shell Sconce- also based on a found object
And recently Jonathan was named Design Director of JT Kalmar Lighting. He has managed to rework and revive some of the pieces from their archives. The Zylinderzug Chandelier. The counterweight is vintage yet so current.