Lucifer Lighting's fixtures engineered to establish a striking presence and blend seamlessly into the environment
In the pulsating heart of San Antonio, tucked away beside Salado Creek on a sprawling 13-acre campus, you'll find the creative hub of Lucifer Lighting. This global illumination conglomerate, originally a family business, has expanded its reach to every corner of the globe. The headquarters is brimming with creativity, from the design and assembly to prototyping and management, and it's adorned with art. Boasting 20 miles of walking and biking trails outside, it's an eco-friendly sanctuary in the city. Besides Texas, Lucifer Lighting branching out with a showroom in the bustling metropolis of New York City in 2023, and another in the trendy Jackson Square of San Francisco the previous year. Their relentless expansion continued in 2025, following the unveiling of their mesmerizing new decorative feature, Stellaris, during Milan Design Week.
Delving into the Design with Lucifer Lighting
Gilbert Mathews, Lucifer Lighting's brilliant mind behind the scenes, shared insight on Stellaris, their latest decorative marvel. 'Our initial decorative fixture, Stellar, made its grand debut in 2020, marking our 40th anniversary', shared Mathews, 'while Stellaris, measuring approximately 30 inches in diameter, holds a commanding presence, capable of setting the ambiance of a space by itself. Its distinctual feature lies in its integration of both downlight and volumetric light within a single form. One aspect I'm particularly proud of is the patented fold with discrete, concealed LEDs in the waveguide - a mesmerizing design element that leaves viewers wondering from where the light emerges.'
Stellaris' design comprises two main elements: a suspended enclosure of internally illuminated tubes, and a translucent barrier defining the feature. Collaborating with renowned architecture firm Gensler, Lucifer Lighting produced Stellaris, and their showrooms, with all finished products being pieced together in the United States, utilizing 93% North American components.
Mathews shared Lucifer Lighting's design ethos: "We often say that the best lighting is the kind that no one notices. Our architectural lighting can be customized with special baffles, kick reflectors, and discrete aiming and adjustment, allowing illumination precisely where it's needed without drawing attention to the light source. Our motto is 'Design, Define, Disappear,' so it's a bit of a paradox that we create such aesthetically pleasing fixtures that are intended to blend seamlessly into their surroundings."
Lucifer Lighting favors clean lines and minimalistic design, straying from the conventional, purely functional American lighting product design. Mathews traced inspiration from European lighting fixture design, which he admired for its sleek aesthetic. He aimed to elevate the approach through Lucifer Lighting's engineering and fabrication capabilities, creating fixtures with seamless, sculptural surfaces that exude inherent beauty, much like luxurious items such as high-end watches, cameras, and Italian sports cars.
Bringing light to interior spaces is Lucifer Lighting's forte, boasting an impressive roster of clients that includes The Peninsula, The Standard, the Four Seasons, Mandarin, St. Regis, Rosewood, and The Ritz Carlton, as well as stores for Apple, Chanel, Cartier, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, and Tiffany & Co. The company derives its peculiar name from the 'Lucifer Light,' the first lighting product, named after the Latin root, luciferous, meaning 'light-bringing.'
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- Gilbert Mathews, the brilliant mind behind Lucifer Lighting, has incorporated the latest advancements in technology into their designs, such as the Stellaris fixture that seamlessly integrates downlight and volumetric light within a single form, complete with patented fold designs and concealed LEDs.
- To showcase their commitment to designing stylish and functional gadgets, Lucifer Lighting has opened showrooms in trendy locales such as San Francisco, New York City, and Milan, as well as teaming up with architecture firm Gensler to create the mesmerizing Stellaris, a fixture that effortlessly blends into its surroundings, much like luxury timepieces and sports cars.
