Quadratube by Wilmotte

Squaring the circle is a classic geometry problem in which students have to construct a square with the area of a given circle using a ruler and compass. It took mathematicians a mere three millennia to show that this feat is completely impossible. In French, “squaring the circle” is used as an expression for problems which are known to be impossible to solve from the start. So, attempting to solve such a problem would be a waste of time. But not for architect and designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte who, one fine day, while sat in his office in Paris, set the Sammode CEO, Emmanuel Gagnez, this new challenge: “Why don’t you produce a ‘square’ tube?” While the question may have been a little puzzling, the CEO did not dismiss it and, three years of research later, Sammode and Jean-Michel Wilmotte had come up with an answer: a new luminaire with the perfect name – QUADRARUBE. Lighting is Jean-Michel Wilmotte’s passion: “Sensitivity to light is part of life itself,” he explains. “Light can be used to set off any space, or any object.” Over the last half a century, he has designed more than 150 luminaires for use in industry, crafting, homes and urban settings. “To me, it is remarkable that a firm such as Sammode, which has already manufactured an iconic lamp – its famous tubular luminaire – still continues to consider new ideas and invent new models,” he marvels.