This Chandelier has been designed for the Pablo- art cafe lounge in Civil Lines, Nagpur owned by SIKA llp.
We have a double heighted atrium in the property which was to be treated well in terms of its visual appeal. Since the entire lounge is designed on the theme of Pablo Picasso and its art works, I got inspired by his CUBISM era of art work and decided to hang cubes of varied sizes from the atrium’s ceiling.
I then generated a conceptual 3D model to understand its proportion and appeal. I calculated the hypotenuse’ of every cube in order to come to its total height.
We first made a half size model in MS pipes by welding the cubes to check how it looks. Once satisfied, I later moved to experimenting with some light getting infused in the cube. Took a MS pipe and got some holes made in it. Put an LED strip to see how it looks. Since we all liked it, I decided to light the entire CUBIC chandelier. Also the LED strip was not giving uniform light from the holes as it is a strip with light points at only one end. Thus, tested the model again with bulbs at both ends of the member and finally succeeded in uniform light.
Became important to make an arrangement for maintenance and repair if the light diffuses. So the idea of adding collar to the cube junctions came into being. So I decided to not to weld the cube in totality but it be an open able structure wherein each member of the cube is tightened using nut and bolt to the collars which are slightly bigger square pipes than the cube members.
Also since this chandelier stands 16’ tall and has 5 cubes starting from 3’6” to 15” (length of one side) from bottom to top , we were worried about its weight and hence chose to use aluminium sections instead of mild steel.
Costing of CUBIC chandelier by Uncle Sam’s Drafting Board
Electrical fitting – Philips 2watt LED concealed light fitting – 120 Nos. – ( Rs.280/ Piece)
Thus, total electrical – 120 x 280 = Rs 33600
Fitting charges – Rs. 10000
Fabrication of the chandelier (material & labour) – Rs. 40000
Painting of chandelier (material & labour) – Rs. 5000
Miscellaneous – wiring, scaffolding for fixing – Rs. 11400
TOTAL – Rs. 100000