Hospitality Design - August 2013 - 67

products

proﬁle

jacco maris

By Ashleigh VanHouten
Photography by Rodrigo Ruiz (portrait),
Timo Reiziger (product), and Francis Amiand
(Mama Shelter)

1

2
3

1. The Montone
chandelier features
ribbons of manipulated
stainless steel.

2. Ruban Plié, Maris’
first lighting collection,
flaunts undulating metal
lines.

3. A collaboration with
Philippe Starck led to
Maris’ Outsider lights
appearing at Mama
Shelter Marseille.

INFINITE OPTIONS
Dutch design lights up

“Holland is a great, inspiring country to
design in,” according to lighting designer
Jacco Maris. “Open, free-minded people who
are not afraid to give their honest opinion
make sure the quality stays high, and every
inch of Holland has been designed to fit
both the functionality of beauty and space
limitations. Also, our history of great artists
and architects has given us a responsibility
to create new icons; it’s in our DNA, so
to speak.”
Maris’ Netherlands-based company
delivers its statement lighting fixtures to
more than 35 countries (selling in the U.S.
through a partnership with Global Lighting)
and his team of 12 is currently working on
about 10 new designs—one collection is set
to launch early next year—including a glass
fixture, a floor lamp, and several suspension
pieces. His specialty is large, eye-catching
metal designs that suggest an infinite,
looping nature.

The designer’s personal aesthetic is
eclectic, as are his sources of inspiration:
Nature, “which asks to be translated”; great
architecture and art, including Le Corbusier
and Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and the
“high quality” of 17th-century paintings;
and even music, like John Coltrane. Steel
is Maris’ material of choice because he says
its pure quality makes it easy to work with:
“Bend, fold, weld, pour. The material gives
you a chance to make revisions; choices are
never inevitable but can be changed in a
second. This allows for great spontaneity
when designing.”
Maris’ first hospitality project, more than
15 years ago, was a series of six large Ruban
Plié chandeliers in a café in the Hague. “The
visual was outstanding, because it was the
first time we could see our designs being
exposed in a repetitive way; it really defined
the space,” he says, adding, “This is the fun
part, and the difference between hospitality

and residential work, where the chosen light
fixture is often only supporting the rest of
the interior.”
Currently, the team is planning a 24foot, bespoke Montone light for a project
in Liechtenstein, as well as a custom light
fixture for an unnamed “big hotel chain”
that’s in its early stages. And in 2012, Maris
worked with Philippe Starck to light up the
quirky and colorful Mama Shelter hotels
in Marseille and Istanbul with a series of
Outsider suspension and wall lights.
As his work gains recognition around
the world, the future for Maris is, in a word,
sunny. “We always live in the now and today
but see the future bright.” hd
j accom ari s.com

hospitalitydesign.com August 2013

067
http://www.jaccomaris.com http://www.hospitalitydesign.com
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