OVUUD was formed out of a desire to keep lighting design simple… yet interesting. The Philadelphia-based company provides custom lighting made from natural materials and cutting edge lighting technology. Each piece is hand-crafted from locally sourced wood which includes oak, ash, and walnut.
The East Coast luminary specializes in lighting with an architectural flair. Part of this probably came organically via the classes Benjamin Gillespie was required to take for his engineering major at Drexel University. Interestingly though, as a furniture builder and designer, he has had zero formal training. About his passion, Gillespie said, “I’ve been building furniture since I was a teenager. My father is incredibly handy and he always had tools around the house. Teaching yourself, you just kind of get better at it.”
Gillespie is not your typical lighting designer. The full-time patent attorney set up a shop for his “side gig” six years ago. Having a creative outlet is something that Gillespie has to “make time for.” Some weekends, he spends up to 14 hours a day in the studio. There are days when he wakes up at 3 AM in order to work at the shop for a few hours before heading to his “office job”. And other days, he takes a two-hour midday break in order get some work done on his projects. It is certainly a taxing schedule, day-in and day-out; but it seems to be working for Gillespie!
Gillespie says his designs are Scandinavian-inspired with a minimalist aesthetic. The designer also makes furniture such as chairs and tables; but his focus is on lighting. It’s the new technology that came along with LED-based lighting which spurred Gillespie’s interest. As an engineer, he is well versed in all the different technologies available today. Quickly, he realized that not many people were designing LED-based lighting that were Scandinavian and mid-century in style.
Evolving from the desire to keep design both simple and interesting; it is the painstaking attention to layout that makes OVUUD unique. The visual effect is always striking!
Each and every piece that comes out of OVUUD’s shop is handcrafted, one-at-a-time. The finest sustainable hardwood, ceramics, fabrics, and metals are used to bring a distinct personality to each piece. With a strong believe in customization; OVUUD’s custom-design services provide the ability to choose exactly what each client desires.
Gillespie says, “A traditional lamp you think of is a bulb and shade emitting a glow 360 degrees all around you. The shade is the primary focus. What I am doing is the lamp itself is actually what is illuminated, not the separate shade element.”