Light becomes a message. Discover Vitreo Message.
&Learning Episode 4
Optical control as an architectural decision
Light is often discussed in terms of atmosphere and emotion, yet in architectural practice it is defined by control. Beam angles, cut-off, and distribution are not neutral parameters. They determine how space is read, how materials are perceived, and how hierarchies are established. Optical control sits quietly at the intersection of technology and architecture, shaping spatial clarity long before light is described as “warm” or “comfortable.” Treating optics as a secondary technical layer means overlooking one of the most decisive design tools available to the lighting designer. Lenses and reflectors are frequently reduced to numbers on a datasheet. This approach misses their architectural role. Optics determine how light leaves the source, how it interacts with surfaces, and how the eye is guided through space. They are instruments of spatial composition, not just tools for achieving illuminance values.
&Learning Episode 3
Sustainability in lighting: beyond energy efficiency
Why Consuming Less Is Not Enough
In contemporary lighting discourse, sustainability is frequently framed as a question of efficiency. Lower wattage, reduced energy bills, improved compliance with regulations. These aspects are measurable, reassuring, and easy to communicate. Yet they represent only a fraction of the environmental and cultural responsibility embedded in lighting design. A space illuminated with minimal energy but poor visual quality, short product lifespan, or excessive maintenance requirements cannot be considered sustainable in any meaningful sense.
Light is not a neutral technical service. It is a design material that influences how architecture is perceived, how long spaces remain functional, and how users interact with their environment. Reducing sustainability to consumption figures risks ignoring the deeper systemic consequences of lighting decisions. When luminaires are replaced prematurely due to glare issues, inadequate optics, or aesthetic obsolescence, the environmental cost of manufacturing, transport, and disposal outweighs any nominal energy savings.
In the territory of Vicenza, architecture has long been a discipline of measure. Through the work of Andrea Palladio, stone was transformed into an instrument of proportion, rhythm, and calibrated shadow. Buildings were conceived not as isolated objects, but as balanced systems where mass and void, surface and depth, structure and light define spatial order. Palladio’s architecture is not simply a style but a method. Harmony emerges from precise relationships between elements, from the careful calibration of axes, openings, and volumes. Within this system, light is never secondary: it reveals proportions, gives hierarchy to space, and allows architecture to be read with clarity.
&Learning Episode 2
How acoustic panels transform sound into silence
Acoustic panels are often specified as if absorption were a simple attribute. Yet acoustic comfort is shaped by the physics of wave interaction, the behavior of porous materials, and the way surfaces and volume distribute reflections.
In this episode, we clarify how absorption truly works, why it differs from isolation, and which parameters designers should read critically when defining reverberation, speech intelligibility, and spatial clarity.
Symmetry is not repetition. It is tension resolved through proportion. Palladio understood that equilibrium is never static: it is a calibrated distribution of forces, a silent agreement between mass and void. Light follows the same discipline. It does not decorate architecture, it measures it. It assigns weight to surfaces, establishes hierarchy, creates rhythm where walls alone would remain mute. When light is distributed with intention, it becomes structural without touching stone. It defines axes, reveals centers, compresses and expands space with the precision of a drawn section. In this sense, illumination is not anaccessory to architecture. It is its most immaterial geometry.To consider light as a constructive element is to accept responsibility for proportion. It demands rigor, control, restraint. In the territory where Palladio conceived order as a moral act, a contemporary culture of light continues to treat every line, curve and luminous emission as part of a disciplined composition. Here, heritage is not nostalgia; it is method. The same land that codified harmony in stone now refines it in aluminum and optics, translating symmetry into luminous equilibrium. For those who recognize that architecture is first a question of measure, light remains the most
exact instrument of vision.
&Learning Episode 1
Technical anatomy of a led lighting fixture
When observing a LED lighting fixture installed within an architectural space, what reaches the eye is only the final link in a complex chain. The perceived light is the result of an integrated system, where each component directly influences the final quality. Reducing a LED product to its light‑emitting chip alone means ignoring the very core of lighting design.
In common perception, the LED module is certainly the starting point, but by itself it defines neither visual comfort nor spatial rendering. Chromatic bin selection, long‑term stability, and consistency between production batches directly affect project continuity, especially in complex or large‑scale architectural applications. Yet it is immediately after the LED that the most delicate phase begins: optical control.
Luna’s journey begins
Light is a dynamic element, making it beautiful unpredictable. This is reflected in the GANG building, designed by SAI Schleburg Generalplanungs GmbH and illuminated by AndCosta. The project prioritizes psychophysical well-being, enhanced by the Luna suspension light. Luna offers a sophisticated balance of visual comfort, low UGR for optimal workspace (and home) comfort, and flicker-free lighting. Its unique membrane also creates a soothing light while reducing noise.
Each project begins with a deep analysis of the space and technical solutions designed to exceed every expectation. Thanks to the ability to create customized productions, we can turn every vision into reality. We can be the perfect partners in creating unique and high-quality lighting solutions. Every one of our creations is a unique story, the result of extraordinary collaboration with clients and designers, where every challenge turns into a surprising outcome. Want to learn more about this project?
A lighting colorful project
design, engineering and manufacturing by Andcosta
interior designers – kedem shenaar + naomi Morgenstern
lighting design – michal kantor lighting design
photography -itay benit
Each product represents a unique story and is the result of the collaboration with our clients.
The sound of silence
Is your space doing everything it can in your space? Our high performance sound absorbing light fixtures do more than just illuminate. Acoustic llight improve speach intelligibility, everyone can understand each other rather than ask them to repeat themselve
s
A good illumination and a silence interior space is the key to well being. Andcosta solutions find their perfect location in places where high quality lighting and acoustics are required
Bespoke lighting design
We put our heart into the development of
high-quality lamps and lighting projects.
Explore our latest custom lighting set for an italian tech enterprise:
Each product represents a unique story and is the result of the collaboration with our clients.
We are green people!
Sustainability and ecology are expression of a new design ethic
IMPROVING WELL-BEING for a more responsible and sustainable lifestyle, as people and as a company, for our customers, for our employees, for suppliers and for the community in which we live. Our company is driven by passion and our daily commitment, true to the idea of putting people at the center of our business development.
As a lighting company we want to create products that can be beautiful and durable, now as in the future!
We support the circular economy and a short chain concept. It is our contribution to the environment and our community. The choice to follow the path of the “short chain” becomes a tale, a virtuos circle that feeds on the contribution of small and large exellences, historical realities that recognize our values and draw together with us a conscious project.
Our suppliers are all located in the Veneto region and comply with the highest standards of ethical and qualitative compatibility.
By working in this way we are able to reduce CO2 emissions in transport and create job opportunities in our territory thereby contributing to the local economy.
By monitoring our supply chain on a daily basis, we can guarantee the quality of our products and, above all, the ethical nature of the production process.
Careful selection of suppliers helps to lower the environmental impact of all processes: by choosing quality raw materials we can obtain products that last over time, thus embracing one of the key principles of the European Ecodesign Directive: “Increase product life time”.
HOW DO YOU EXPERIENCE NOISE IN A ROOM?
Discover our system for architectural lighting with an integrated acoustic tool.For a long time, acoustic comfort has been overlooked in favour of aesthetics. However, now creating a serene space can significantly contribute to better productivity and a longer stay within the space itself.
DISCOVER OUR WIDE RANGE OF PALETTE COLORS.
our color chart offers a wide range of color palettes and we are always ready to realize your custom projects. Imagine our panels as finishes or decorative elements to be used both with light and as a stand-alone model
VENETIAN SMART LIGHTING AWARD 2023
Vitreo by Andcosta wins the VENETIAN SMART LIGHTING AWARD for the CONTRACT category
The genesis of the Vitreo product comes to life from the creation of a scenographic installation created ad hoc for the headquarters of a well-known denim company (entirely illuminated by Andcosta – a building designed by architects SAI Schleburg Generalplanungs GmbH.
To accompany customers from one floor to another a large spiral staircase is illuminated by a 12-meters “glass waterfall”, a luminous system of interconnected modules where the glass of the enormous chandelier intersects an atmospheric light and reflects chromatic effects.
Vitreo is inspired by the naturalness of organic shapes. The design focus was to place on the market a lamp steeped in its essence, where the pure beauty of the glass and the light source could intersect chromatic games. The hand-crafted transparent glass illuminates the night and is almost invisible during the day, leaving room for the particular internal finish where the natural pigments become the very signature of the object.
discover THE MARVELLOUS LIGHT FACTORY
discover THE MARVELLOUS LIGHT FACTORY
Andcosta lights up in color and narrates small tales of its territory starting from the lagoon of Venice where until November it will be present at the
Biennale of Architecture
Grenada National Pavilion
The new colors collection will reflect the shades of the waters that bathe Venice, the island of Murano and the lagoon architecture.
Green, yellow, blue, venetian red and gold finish are the leitmotif of a narrative inspired by
the color palette of an immortal and timeless city.
Follow the path and you will soon discover our
brand new colored collection!
Biennale di Architettura di Venezia
We are glad to be part of it!
Discover Walking on Water project
at the Grenada National Pavilion
Biennale di Architettura di Venezia 2023
Andcosta at Euroluce – Milano Design Week 2023 18-23 . 04. 2023 Hall 15 Stand 121
Andcosta presents its new collection at Euroluce, Milano Design Week 2023. The stand encapsulates the company’s technical expertise, the defining element of the new products, which arise out of the intuition and imagination of the Andcosta design team and founder Carlo Zerbaro.
The space of the stand showcase innovations of a professional and architectural nature, in the refreshed looks of iconic products such as Circus, Circus Acoustic Panel, Luna, Grue, Pin and in the new product families such as Vitreo, B-Pro modular System and the New series of Acoustic Panels that can be combined with lighting systems.
Proud to annunce that Spot-On Lighting System has been awarded!
Spot-On Lighting System design by Irene Kronenberg of Baranowitz + Kronenberg and engineering and manufacturing by AndCosta has been awarded the 2022 Prize Designs for Modern Furniture and Lighting Award from Global Design News and The Chicago Athenaeum
ALUCBOND talks about GANG’s Headquarter:
“a perfect match for a perfect lighting project”
Lighting plays a fundamental role in architecture.
In harmony with the project carried out by SAI Schleburg Generalplanungs GmbH, ANDCOSTA designed and realized more than 100 Luna hanging lamp in different sizes and in a special direct light version.
The fascinating noise-absorbing membrane is covered on the upper side by an ALUCOBOND® surface. The membrane of Luna, in addition to returning a particulary suggestive light helps to muffle the noise.
We chose this material for its reflectance capabilities. The ALUCOBOND® panel bounces the light without absorbing it, thus increasing the light beam, the very low UGR value ensure maximum comfort in this case at the workplace.
Focus on our news!
Frames from Frankfurt!
Andcosta presents its new collections at Light+Building 2022 in Frankfurt.
The black and red concept of the stand summarizes our know-how interpreted through the new products, result of the intuition and thinking of the andcosta design team. In 5 different exhibition volumes, you can discover professional and architectural innovations, technology and design, in the renewed looks of iconic products such as Circus Round, Circus Acoustic Panel, Luna, Grue and new product families such as B-Pro, Daytona and Cyl. Our sales team will be happy to show you how to create good lighting by adapting it to your needs and how it can be a process simple and creative space customization using the new products B-PRO, Daytona and CYL, a range of devices that can be configured for any lighting need and with long-lasting light sources.
HALL 3.1
STAND B71
Virginia Sommadossi
creative director
Since 2001 she has been the Creative Director at Centrale Fies—the research centre for contemporary performance practices in Trentino-Alto Adige—managing image and communication, and, since 2014, she has supervised the projects and public programmes for the centre, aimed at further strengthening its practices, focus, philosophies and cultural policies. Culture is not the only field that she is involved in, but it is the instrument she uses within the processes of interweaving art and culture with disciplines ranging from tourism to fashion, from design to agriculture. She was brought up in close contact with performing arts and contemporary theatre and earned a degree in Humanities at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore with a thesis entitled “Hybrids-When Art Meets Porn-” on the power of the genital body as read through the trends of performance art, advertising and indi-porn. Since 2017, she has been in charge of communication and the visual identity of the first master’s degree course with the word “Performing Arts” in the title at IUAV [University of Venice], which, from 2021, will be split into two curricula—Performance and Gender Studies, and Choreographic Theatre Studies. Since 2020, she has been the coordinator within the creative direction of apap – FEMINIST FUTURES run by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
Andrea Maragno
fka
JOE VELLUTO
designer
Andrea Maragno in 2002, founds the design and communication studio JoeVelluto; he is the Education Manager of the Scuola Italiana Design, a division of the “Galileo Visionary District” Science Park in Padua. He has lectured on design and creativity in all the major Italian institutes and universities.
In 2002, he presents “RosAria” a disposable rosary bead made of bubble wrap, the first official project to become part of the permanent design collection of the Neue Sammlung Museum in Munich.
Some of his career highlights include: in 2005, presentation of the book “Salefino: nuovi sapori dal design italiano” [Salefino: new tastes from Italian design], publisher – Abitare Segesta; in 2008, the project “Saver” by Coroitalia was mentioned in the ADI Design Index. In November of the same year, he presents the exhibition/manifesto “UseLess Is More” – the first interpretation of the “Adesign” concept, from which the book distributed by Corraini takes its name.
In 2011 he presents “FunCoolDesign”, a solo exhibition curated by Oliviero Toscani at the Triennale Design Museum – Milan, Electa catalogue.
In 2014 he exhibits the Amen/Lumen project at the MARS gallery in Milan with the participation of Maestro Alessandro Mendini and curated by Beppe Finessi.
He has been part of the Fabrica scientific committee, the Benetton group’s communication research centre directed by Oliviero Toscani.
He is the author of the book “Estetica della Meditazione” [Aesthetics of Meditation], published by RCS – Corriere della Sera, 2021.
He is a Zen monk under the aegis of Master Tetsugen Serra, and co-manager for the OraZen Temple in Padua.
Andrea Maffei’s story begins with a trip to Japan where he went to work with the architect Arata Isozaki. A collaboration that inspired both professionally. Once he returned from Japan, he founded the Andrea Maffei Architects studio, which, among many other jobs, handles the development and planning of projects where he is co-author with Isozaki. The approach that characterises the genesis and development of his work concentrates on interpreting the client’s needs through a type of design that makes the best use of the context in which the structure will be located.
He is not interested in creating a form so it may be filled with functions; on the contrary, the core of the project is precisely these functions or, in the case of redevelopment of existing structures, it is looking at the history that they possess to identify the meaning they may have for today.
Maffei has completed major projects and had considerable experience in the Asian and Middle Eastern cultural context, including his role as project leader for Sheikh Al-Thani’s Al Wabrah villa in Doha, Qatar (1999-2001) and later for the project to expand the Qatar History Museum.
Among his most famous projects, he designed, with Isozaki, the Allianz Tower in Milan’s CityLife complex which at 242 metres high is now the tallest skyscraper in Italy. “Conceived as a skyscraper without end, a sort of endless tower” for which the aspiration is “maximum verticality and upward tension, without the limit of having to choose a complete and finished form, rather it applies the concept of a modular system that can be repeated infinitely without interruption”.
Read the biography here
Giulia Brazzale is a producer, director, screenwriter and editor.
A psychology graduate, she makes her debut with a short film in 2002 that wins numerous awards throughout Italy. In 2003 she founds a production company: Esperimentocinema Srl. Among her numerous films there are two feature films: Ritual – a story of psychomagic (with Alejandro Jodorowsky) and The Awful Wars (Le Guerre Horrende), which she screen writes, directs and edits. Her films have been distributed to cinemas throughout Italy, selected by various film festivals, won awards, sold abroad and are visible in online streaming on the most renowned on-demand platforms.
In the world of entertainment her name is synonymous with style and creativity. She has a completely original approach in her choice of garments and accessories, always putting the needs of the artist who will wear them first, to create an enduring visual identity that resonates with the project through visual elements. Entertainment, rock music and cinema are just a few of the fields she navigates with exceptional professionalism; from stage top to bottom, she uses her cultured vision to balance the latest trends, fashion history, art, photography and design. These are the precious ingredients used by Lucia, the stylist who has used a fusion of the arts to create her unique signature.
Main clients: Ligabue, Subsonica, Elisa, Emma Marrone, Marracash, Gue Pequeno, Pooh (50th anniversary reunion), Noys Narcos, Francesco Renga, Nek, Fiorella Mannoia, Noemi
