For 45 years Luminaire has helped to define what it means to be a top notch purveyor of international design. What started back in 1974 as a singular Scandinavian lighting store in Miami has now branched out into four locations, the latest of which recently opened in Los Angeles. Bringing together contemporary home furnishings under one roof is valuable to any and all design lovers, and now Luminaire is taking it a step further by creating programs that explore local design. In this month’s Design Store(y), we talk to founder Nasir Kassamali to find out more.
Why did you pick this city/neighborhood/storefront?
Los Angeles is undergoing a cultural revitalization that has recently seen the migration of artists into the city. With them, they have brought a new sense of vitality that has not gone unnoticed as galleries began to set up spaces in the city as well. This shift brought with it a creative culture that has appealed to a broad range of people including designers, architects, and fashion personalities, especially in the West Hollywood Design District. This cultural climate combined with the economic prosperity of the city has created a unique proposition for Luminaire.
Where did you get the name for the store?
I had the idea of opening a design store when I was growing up in Kenya. I was influenced by the Bauhaus and in 1970, I discovered the word “Luminaire” in Paris. When we opened in Miami in 1974, we only carried Scandinavian lighting and the name Luminaire was appropriate.
Has it changed much since it opened? How?
Back in 1974, the landscape of superior home furnishings was restricted to interior designers who provided consumers with the only means of access to design showrooms open solely to the trade. Propelled by the motivation to remove barriers and democratize design, Nargis and I distilled our long-standing dream into a singular concept: Luminaire. The first showroom specializing in European lighting, opened as a 500-square-foot kiosk in North Miami Beach that year, boldly blazing the path that would eventually make the finest offerings in international design directly available to the U.S. consumer. We now have four beautiful stores in Coral Gables, Miami, Chicago and now Los Angeles totaling 66,000 sq ft. This month, March, we celebrate forty-five years in the design field and surviving all kind of changes within.
What’s your favorite item in the store right now?
The opening of Luminaire’s Los Angeles showroom also marks the debut of Sollos, a collection of works by Brazilian designer Jader Almeida. With a clear approach to design, Jader Almeida fuses the spirit of modernist architecture with the poetry and vitality of Brazilian customs and craft to create his collection. At Luminaire, Jader Almeida has the freedom to continue his strong work that balances robust structures with other more delicate, even frail elements, as a combination of lightness and strength in a composition full of rhythm.
What is this season’s theme/inspiration/story?
This year, Luminaire started the season celebrating the centennial of the Bauhaus with Dieter Rams in Coral Gables. Then last month in LA, we had an exciting design talk of how the Bauhaus influences Architecture and Art with Los Angeles-based art collector Alberto Chehebar and architect Kulapat Yantrasast, during Frieze Art Fair.
