By Chiara Sebastiani
Light is not simply something that illuminates a room. It can change its proportions, enhance a detail, create an atmosphere, accompany architecture and even change the way we live in a home. It is precisely from this idea that Cristina Baldi and Marco Pagni have built, over the last fifteen years, the history of EsterEvo, a company specializing in lighting design and the creation of customized solutions.
The name itself tells something about their roots: “Ester” is Ester, Marco’s grandmother, while “Evo” recalls evolution. A name that well summarizes a philosophy born from experience, but always projected towards the future. Cristina and Marco have been working together for over forty years and, before founding EsterEvo, they had gained a long experience in the lighting sector. Fifteen years ago they decided to set up their own business, bringing with them knowledge, passion and above all a precise idea of what they wanted to do: not just to offer chandeliers and lighting fixtures, but to design the light.
“The real asset of our business is customization,” says Cristina. And this is probably the word that most distinguishes their work. The path starts from the inspection, continues with the design and arrives directly at the construction site, where each solution is studied according to the architecture, materials and needs of those who will live in that space. A program also allows you to visualize in advance what the result of the designed lighting will be, offering an immediate perception of the finished environment. Cristina mainly follows the creative part and the construction sites; Marco deals more with the technical aspects, calculations and the creation of the objects. The skills, however, cross paths continuously: a true “cross competence” that allows the two professionals to compare and complete each other.
EsterEvo does not only deal with new creations. A particularly significant part of the activity concerns the recovery, repair and adaptation of existing lighting systems and objects. Chandeliers to be restored, lighting fixtures that are now out of production, old outdoor spotlights that cannot simply be replaced: often the solution consists in recovering what already exists and making it functional again, also through the modernization of the system. It is a job that requires experience and the ability to find solutions where apparently there are none. And that leads EsterEvo to intervene not only in Tuscany, but also in other parts of Italy, from Rome to Sardinia. Among the interventions carried out there are also works for highly prestigious realities, such as a part of Palazzo Farnese in Rome, the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and important museums in Cagliari.
In recent years, one of the most important changes in the world of lighting has naturally been the arrival and evolution of LEDs. A technology that, according to Cristina, has opened up creative possibilities unthinkable with traditional lamps. But precisely for this reason it requires specific skills. LED does not simply mean consuming less. “Let’s get the savings out of our heads,” Cristina points out. The real advantage is the possibility of building light scenographies, obtaining more comfortable light and creating effects that were not possible before. But to achieve a good result, you need a solid foundation of lighting technology: light that is too white, too yellow, direct or simply placed in the wrong place can completely compromise an environment. Technique comes before creativity, therefore. Only after establishing how much light is needed and how to distribute it is it possible to build that emotional part that transforms a project into something personal. And this is also true in more traditional environments.
Historic villas, farmhouses, rustic houses with beams and stone can coexist perfectly with contemporary technology, as long as LEDs are used discreetly and sensitively. The goal, Cristina explains, is often not to see the lighting body, but only the light it produces. In some projects, moreover, modern technology is combined with classic elements, such as an important Murano glass chandelier: a contamination that can create contrasts of great effect. For EsterEvo, in fact, the chandelier does not necessarily have to be the main source of light. It can become a real piece of furniture, while the lighting of the environment is built elsewhere, through a series of precisely designed light points.
The same philosophy can be found in the design of the exteriors, the sector from which EsterEvo was born. One of the interventions that Cristina considers among the most significant of her long career is the one carried out for an accommodation facility, starting practically from scratch: a plot of land, a house, a forest and a project to be transformed into a space to be lived in even in the evening. The street, parking, swimming pool, garden and architecture have been connected through a luminous scenography capable of alternating classic elements and LED technology. It is perhaps here that the meaning of EsterEvo’s work is best understood: starting from an empty space and arriving at a completely different environment, in which light does not limit itself to showing what exists, but helps to create it.
Alongside design, there is also a more personal production. In fact, EsterEvo creates its own lamps and objects, often born from the need to offer something that is not available on the market. This is the case of the “Asia” series, produced exclusively by EsterEvo, or the objects made to design for architects and companies.
After more than forty years in the sector, Cristina and Marco are therefore looking to the light with the awareness of those who have followed every transformation. From the season of the great chandeliers to the era of LEDs, from international fairs to construction sites, their professional history has become an integral part of that of EsterEvo. A story made up of experience, continuous updating and creativity, but above all of the belief that lighting well means much more than lighting a lamp. It means understanding a space, interpreting it and finding, every time, the right way to bring it to life.
Info: EsterEvo, Via Italo Laserdi, 46 – Monsummano Terme (Pt) / Tel. 0572 1790001 / www.esterevo.com / info@esterevo.it
