Designer to Know: Ridgely Studio Works

Discarded shards of tempered glass and random bicycle parts might not seem like the best materials to create lighting with, but Zac Ridgely thinks otherwise. The Toronto-based designer and founder of Ridgely Studio Works is known for breathing new life into broken and abandoned scraps, transforming them into functional works of art.

His appreciation for unusual materials began at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, where he studied sculpture and painting and resorted to the occasional dumpster dive to find exotic components for his works. After graduating, however, he had difficulty "selling sculpture for sculpture’s sake," he says. That is, until he had his own lightbulb moment: If he combined sculpture with a necessary function, like lighting, it became more consumer-friendly. 

Since the studio’s inception in 2001, Ridgely’s approach to lighting design has been mostly experimental, even whimsical—think chandeliers made out of silver cutlery. But he also creates more refined pieces, like his most recent project, the Gem Series, which centers on spherical hand-blown glass diffusers pierced by a sleek brass rod. Whatever the style, the new ideas keep flowing. "We’re constantly creating," he says. "There’s no end to inspiration."

Learn why Ridgely despises 3D printing in our Q&A below.

Hometown: Toronto, Canada

Describe what you make in 140 characters. I create bespoke sculptural light fixtures.

What's the last thing you designed? A modular light fixture that uses a hand blown glass diffuser and can be configured to suit its environment.

Do you have a daily creative ritual? Coffee and sketching.

How do you procrastinate? Shopping or scrolling on Amazon.

What everyday object would you like to redesign? Why? Flush mount light fixtures. Almost every home has several of them, and typically they are so bland that one does not even consider them in the design process.