Simon Schmitz

Simon, born in Arnsberg, Germany, set up his studio in Hamburg after graduating from the School of Art. It was there that he discovered the freedom, autonomy, and responsibility of a designer. "Here's your studio, grab a pencil, and figure it out." He learned everything about forms, materials, processes, and most importantly: context. "If you don't know why you're doing what you're doing, don't do it at all."

The starting point for his Aaro lamp was a gesture. The desire to create the most fluid movement possible. This immediately led him to the sphere. A sphere as a joint, allowing for infinite directions. A sphere that has neither left nor right, neither up nor down. As the lamp's central element, this sphere allows everything else to revolve around it. Geometry, balance, friction. Everything rests on it. Everything points to it. Aaro is an object that seems to float in the air, orbiting its central piece like planets in orbit. With Aaro, inspired by the English "Aaron's rod," the magician Simon Schmitz makes his light fixtures levitate.