Argentine designer turns curiosity into award-winning interactive lights

Ignacio Noel, a 34-year-old industrial designer from Argentina, transforms curiosity into light, crafting award-winning luminaries that engage users in their function. From a young age, Noel was fascinated by how things worked, often disassembling toys and electronics. This childhood passion for understanding processes now fuels his creative studio, Iwish, located in Acassuso.

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I'm interested in exploring the relationship between light, materials, and user interactions. Because that's how I am, I try to have fun and complicate something as basic as turning on the light.

Iwish is a hub of creativity, showcasing a diverse range of discarded materials like wood and marble, alongside disruptive solutions and playful lighting designs. Noel emphasizes user interaction, stating, "I'm interested in exploring the relationship between light, materials, and user interactions. Because that's how I am, I try to have fun and complicate something as basic as turning on the light."

His "Orbita" lamp, a centerpiece at Milan's SaloneSatellite in 2025, is designed to follow circadian rhythms. It earned the A’ Design Award Gold Winner in Italy and a Best of the Year award from uN Design Awards in the United States. Collaborating with Arpa Industriale, the lamp was licensed for international manufacturing and distribution. The design, inspired by orbital movements and the sun's circadian rhythm, features an infinite rotation system for intuitive adjustments of light direction and intensity.

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Light is much more than activating or deactivating a switch. It has intensities and temperatures throughout the day, it is changing, it is in permanent transformation.

Noel also created "Vínculo" for Paris Design Week, an interactive lamp requiring user involvement. This sculptural piece combines translucent natural marble and polished brass. It illuminates when a flexible LED neon, wrapped in textile, connects to its contact points, revealing the marble's veins and emitting a warm glow. His work, including a flower-shaped lampshade with a flexible stem, demonstrates a playful approach to lighting design, placing the user at the center of the experience.

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The design is inspired by orbital movements and the circadian rhythm of the sun, to integrate an infinite rotation system that allows intuitive and precise adjustments in both the direction and intensity of the light. By holding the central ring with one hand and rotating the screen with the other, the user can smoothly modify the intensity, creating effects ranging from dim ambient light to more focused lighting.