Timon and Melchior Grau design GRAU’s luminaires.
Since 2017, they have led design and creative direction at GRAU. They shape the entire experience of the collection and the brand: the form of the lights, the effect of their light, how they are used, and how they transform spaces.
The duo
Timon and Melchior Grau have worked together since 2010. After completing their bachelor’s degrees in economics at Humboldt University in Berlin, they studied art as a duo under Ai Weiwei and Hito Steyerl at Berlin University of the Arts. They graduated from the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, where they studied under Willem de Rooij.
They grew up with the family business and designed their first light for GRAU while studying art.
“We design luminaires that bring people closer together. We are interested in the presence of objects and materials, and the poetic power of the light they cast into a room. In this way, spaces become places for shared experiences.”
Timon and Melchior Grau
Design
Their design approach
Timon and Melchior Grau create characters: lights whose expression is distilled to its essence.
Each form is refined until only what defines its character remains. The result is a series of figures in space, quietly present with a natural sense of restraint. Through their light, they transform their own expression and the space around them. Timon and Melchior Grau see light as a way to create atmosphere, nurture wellbeing, and bring people together.
The beginning
Parrot
Parrot, their first design for GRAU
The design grew out of a performance in Athens: for two weeks, Timon and Melchior walked through an empty exhibition space. This sparked the idea of a portable light that abstracts the human figure, continually transforming the space through its presence and light.
From this idea came Parrot and Salt, our first portable lights. These cordless, rechargeable lights were the first of their kind and helped shape a new direction for the lighting industry. Both designs have received numerous accolades, including the German Design Award in Gold, the iF Design Award, the Wallpaper Design Award and the Red Dot Award, as well as a place on the Dezeen Awards longlist.
The System
Team Series
From a single light to a complete ecosystem
Mit der Team Serie entwerfen Timon und Melchior Grau ein ganzheitliches System der Arbeitsplatzbeleuchtung: ein Ökosystem in höchster Designqualität. Alle Leuchten der Team und XTA6 Serie folgen derselben Designsprache und lassen sich als stimmiges System modular planen. So entstehen Räume, in denen das Licht nicht aus Einzelteilen zusammengesetzt ist, sondern als Ganzes wirkt.
Their art
Bonfire
The three-metre-tall sculpture Bonfire evokes an archetypal image of human togetherness: a fire around which people gather.
As artists, Timon and Melchior Grau have exhibited at biennials and in museums internationally, including the Biennial of Moving Images in Geneva, the Bergen Triennial, Kunsthaus Hamburg, Portikus in Frankfurt am Main and FRAC Champagne-Ardenne.
The Fire series grew out of this artistic practice. It translates their light sculptures into lights for everyday life and introduced new developments in GRAU’s lighting technology and colour palette: warm light for wellbeing (Sunset Dimming) and dynamic lighting scenes (Vibes).
Interior Design
GRAU Store Design
Spaces to experience light
The GRAU stores are designed by Timon and Melchior Grau as sensory spaces where lights, materials and light come together as one.
In the Hamburg and Berlin stores, visitors can experience the lights in a spatial setting, just as they were intended.
Press
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Timon & Melchior Grau
