Axel Schmid, born in 1971, completed his studies in wood and metal working before studying at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Stuttgart, where he obtained his degree in 1997. Thanks to a grant of the Association of the German Industrial Designers he could spend a year in Japan. Afterwards he started working for the lighting designer Ingo Maurer in Munich.
Axel Schmid's pendant light Five Pack, which he designed for Ingo Maurer, is especially impressive, sporting five reflectors which nestle in each other and can be pulled apart by pulling up a handle. The light fixture passes from a compact, conventional shape to an airy tower with spaces letting the light through. Not only the object's appearance is transformed but also its lighting effect.
In the first case, the light is directed downwards, in the second case the shades provide additional, soft general lighting.
The 24 Karat Blau collection is both unusual and refined. Schmid utilizes a special property of gold leaf. Short-wave blue light passes through the thin gold layer, while warm, red yellow light is reflected. As a result, while the golden shade sends warm light into the room, blue effects are visible on the shade.
Aside designing high-quality lights, together with Ingo Maurer Axel Schmid has designed artistic installations and projects all around the world. With Ablaze, Ingo Maurer and Axel Schmid created an impressive installation uniting architecture, object, sound, light and smoke for the exposition Architettura Mutante during the Milan Design Week 2011. Also in Milan but this time for Audi City Lab, Schmid and Maurer illuminated parts of a historical building with a sea of light and colour.
Photo: Olaf Becker