Man Singh Road Oval Chandelier
Delhi, India (2012)
Created for a major private residence on Man Singh Road in New Delhi, this monumental suspended lighting sculpture was commissioned directly by Christian Liaigre as the central artwork above the principal dining room. Unlike the conventional design process through which Liaigre would typically provide detailed concepts for execution, Yahya was invited to conceptualise the work entirely freely and propose an original sculptural intervention for the space. Following visits to the residence and extensive research undertaken in India, including studies of Mughal geometric ornament at the Red Fort, Yahya developed a vast seven-metre oval composition intended to appear suspended weightlessly within the interior despite weighing approximately three and a half tonnes.
The structure was fabricated entirely by hand using layered sheets of hand-sawn and hand-engraved 5mm brass incorporating secondary 2mm floral openwork compositions positioned behind the principal motifs. These intricate geometric surfaces continue across both the exterior and interior faces of the sculpture, allowing the illuminated patterns to remain visible both from within the dining space below and from the surrounding room itself. Concealed between the brass skins, an internal steel structure was developed to support the immense weight of the sculpture while preserving the extraordinary thinness and apparent fragility of the form. Multiple engineering firms initially considered the piece structurally impossible due to the risk of buckling across such a large suspended span before a viable structural solution was finally approved. The entire sculpture is suspended from six remarkably slender ceiling tubes connected to a delicate illuminated ceiling plate, reinforcing the illusion that the monumental form is floating weightlessly within the space.
Integrated within the central cavity of the oval structure, a suspended metallic chainmail composition conceals the principal lighting system while diffusing light softly onto the dining table beneath. Rather than exposing aggressive direct spotlights to the guests below, the chainmail filters and softens the illumination into a warm atmospheric glow integrated seamlessly within the sculpture itself. Hidden LED ribs positioned throughout the structure were engineered for accessibility and maintenance while remaining entirely invisible within the finished composition. Balancing engineering, sculpture, light, and ornament at an extraordinary scale, the work exemplifies Yahya’s approach to transforming highly complex technical challenges into refined sculptural environments where structural performance and visual delicacy exist in complete equilibrium.
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Photography Credit: Yahya Group
Man Singh Road Oval Chandelier
Delhi, India (2012)
Created for a major private residence on Man Singh Road in New Delhi, this monumental suspended lighting sculpture was commissioned directly by Christian Liaigre as the central artwork above the principal dining room. Unlike the conventional design process through which Liaigre would typically provide detailed concepts for execution, Yahya was invited to conceptualise the work entirely freely and propose an original sculptural intervention for the space. Following visits to the residence and extensive research undertaken in India, including studies of Mughal geometric ornament at the Red Fort, Yahya developed a vast seven-metre oval composition intended to appear suspended weightlessly within the interior despite weighing approximately three and a half tonnes.
The structure was fabricated entirely by hand using layered sheets of hand-sawn and hand-engraved 5mm brass incorporating secondary 2mm floral openwork compositions positioned behind the principal motifs. These intricate geometric surfaces continue across both the exterior and interior faces of the sculpture, allowing the illuminated patterns to remain visible both from within the dining space below and from the surrounding room itself. Concealed between the brass skins, an internal steel structure was developed to support the immense weight of the sculpture while preserving the extraordinary thinness and apparent fragility of the form. Multiple engineering firms initially considered the piece structurally impossible due to the risk of buckling across such a large suspended span before a viable structural solution was finally approved. The entire sculpture is suspended from six remarkably slender ceiling tubes connected to a delicate illuminated ceiling plate, reinforcing the illusion that the monumental form is floating weightlessly within the space.
Integrated within the central cavity of the oval structure, a suspended metallic chainmail composition conceals the principal lighting system while diffusing light softly onto the dining table beneath. Rather than exposing aggressive direct spotlights to the guests below, the chainmail filters and softens the illumination into a warm atmospheric glow integrated seamlessly within the sculpture itself. Hidden LED ribs positioned throughout the structure were engineered for accessibility and maintenance while remaining entirely invisible within the finished composition. Balancing engineering, sculpture, light, and ornament at an extraordinary scale, the work exemplifies Yahya’s approach to transforming highly complex technical challenges into refined sculptural environments where structural performance and visual delicacy exist in complete equilibrium.