Willow Contemporary Pendant Lamp By Faina

After experiencing the 2014 Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine, furniture designer and architect Victoria Yakusha sought in her work to preserve, revive and celebrate Ukrainian culture. A deep connection with nature and a sustainable construction approach connects her designs to the Earth and centuries-old traditions. By drawing on techniques and materials native to her home country, Yakusha creates award-winning collections of furniture, lighting and décor with an organic modern design style.

Growing up, Yakusha fostered an affinity for Ukrainian primitivist and folk artists including self-taught painter Maria Prymachenko. She later studied architecture at Prydniprovska State Academy in Ukraine and the National Institutes of Science and Technology in France. In 2006, she opened YAKUSHA, a multidisciplinary studio, and in 2014, she launched her furniture brand, Faina.

Faina uses materials from Ukraine and employs local specialists to craft furnishings, often entirely by hand. The brand developed its own living material, ztista, a moldable dough composed of recycled metal, cellulose, wood chips and clay. Faina also uses a historic craft technique known as valkuvannia, which involves coating a solid surface with a mixture of straw, hay and natural clay. It enables sculptors to form highly textured pieces including chairs, benches and lamps.

Yakusha’s work has been presented around the world, including at the 2018 and 2020 Paris Design Week, 2017 Stockholm Furniture Fair, 2018 and 2020 Milan Design Week and 2015 and 2018 Bologna Design Week. She won recognition from the ELLE DECO International Design Awards in 2019, Art Space Interior Awards in 2020 and the 2020 Arte Laguna Prize for Art Design. In 2021, Yakusha’s Istetyka interior in Kyiv became the first Ukrainian project to win in the Dezeen Awards for the Bars & Restaurants category.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of designs by Victoria Yakusha including seating, tables, decorative objects and more.

Chandeliers — simple in form, inspired by candelabras and originally made of wood or iron — first made an appearance in early churches. For those wealthy enough to afford them for their homes in the medieval period, a chandelier's suspended lights likely exuded imminent danger, as lit candles served as the light source for fixtures of the era. Things have thankfully changed since then, and antique and vintage chandeliers and pendant lights are popular in many interiors today.

While gas lighting during the late 18th century represented an upgrade for chandeliers — and gas lamps would long inspire Danish architect and pioneering modernist lighting designer Poul Henningsen — it would eventually be replaced with the familiar electric lighting of today.

The key difference between a pendant light and a chandelier is that a pendant incorporates only a single bulb into its design. Don’t mistake this for simplicity, however. An Art Deco–styled homage to Sputnik from Murano glass artisans Giovanni Dalla Fina (note: there is more than one lighting fixture that shares its name with the iconic mid-century-era satellite — see Gino Sarfatti’s design too), with handcrafted decorative elements supported by a chrome frame, is just one stunning example of the elaborate engineering that can be incorporated into every component of a chandelier.

Chandeliers have evolved over time, but their classic elegance has remained unchanged. Not only will the right chandelier prove impressive in a given room, but it can also offer a certain sense of practicality. These fixtures can easily illuminate an entire space, while their elevated position prevents them from creating glare or straining one’s eyes. Certain materials, like glass, can complement naturally lit settings without stealing the show. Brass, on the other hand, can introduce an alluring, warm glow. While LEDs have earned a bad reputation for their perceived harsh bluish lights and a loss of brightness over their life span, the right design choices can help harness their lighting potential and create the perfect mood. A careful approach to lighting can transform your room into a peaceful and cozy nook, ideal for napping, reading or working.

For midsize spaces, a wall light or sconce can pull the room together and get the lighting job done. Perforated steel rings underneath five bands of handspun aluminum support a rich diffusion of light within Alvar Aalto's Beehive pendant light, but if you’re looking to brighten a more modest room, perhaps a minimalist solution is what you’re after. The mid-century modern furniture designer Charlotte Perriand devised her CP-1 wall lamps in the 1960s, in which a repositioning of sheet-metal plates can redirect light as needed.

The versatility and variability of these lighting staples mean that, when it comes to finding something like the perfect chandelier, you’ll never be left hanging. From the whimsical — like the work of Beau & Bien’s Sylvie Maréchal, frequently inspired by her dreams — to the classic beauty of Paul Ferrante's fixtures, there is a style for every room. With designs for pendant lights and chandeliers across eras, colors and materials, you’ll never run out of options to explore on 1stDibs.