Lobby Lights

An exhibition of light, ceramics & ideas — right in the heart of the Superbude. Why are there suddenly so many lamps hanging here? Because we’ve turned our lobby into a small gallery — or rather: the ceramics students from the University of Applied Arts Vienna did it for us. And how! The exhibition Lobby LEUCHTET (lobby LIGHTS) presents light objects — made of clay, porcelain, and a whole lot of imagination. The space between arriving, leaving, and staying becomes a stage for lamps, lights, and chandeliers. And because we believe that art belongs where people come together, we simply handed our lobby over to the students. The exhibition runs until July 31, 2025 — plenty of time to drift through our pop-up gallery with a spritzer or an espresso in hand. Here, the artists share more about their works — entirely in their own words:

VALENTIN BAUER - CADERE LUSTER
The Cadere chandelier is a modular light fixture composed of identical, translucent porcelain elements. Arranged in a circular suspension, it unfolds its volume through the repetition of simple parts — available either in a small (3-piece) or large (25-piece) configuration. The colored tips of the porcelain cones add striking accents and emphasize the material’s lightness. Hovering somewhere between system and gravity, Cadere becomes a quiet choreography of light, color, and form.

LAURA FRÜHMESSER - PROLOG
"Prolog, in the form of this stoneware concept light, announces a larger project waiting to be brought into the world. Using Morse code, the artist spells out a silent message into the space — waiting to be deciphered." @actias._.luna._ Superbude Hotel Wien Prater Lifestyle Artikel Lobby Leuchtet Hannah Gebert

HANNAH GEBERT - "HOLDING YOUR DREAM IN MY HAND"
The work holding your dream in my hands explores the transience of dreaming. A fabric pillow, sewn and filled with liquid plaster, is transformed into a porcelain light object using a casting technique — creating a play between softness and rigidity, fragility and solidity. In the process, not only are the traces of its creation made visible, but the often elusive, intangible nature of our subconscious dreams is also captured — and preserved, if only for a fleeting moment.

LAURA ISSELHORST - SCHERBEN PATCHWORK
Scherben Patchwork combines ceramic, glass, and soldering techniques. The starting point: shards from works of previous years. These fragments are reassembled into a new lampshade, molded in plaster, and then cast in porcelain. The result is a new lampshade that reveals the traces of fractures and soldered joints — making them visible as an echo of its past.

ESTHER MARTENS - ZWEI LICHTARBEITEN
I took a piece from a vintage lamp that belonged to my late grandmother — the iconic ice lamp shape. From it, I created a plaster mold, into which I cast porcelain and reworked the fragment into a new, more contemporary lamp. The result is a translucent lampshade composed of four shapes that I reassembled. I also made a lamp base out of stoneware, which I polished to achieve a rustic, stone-like appearance. For the second work, I used another piece from an ice lamp. I decided to turn it into a translucent porcelain frame that encases a small oil painting on copper. Along the contours of the painting, I engraved the copper — precisely where the light touches the motif. The painting shows a fragment of a porcelain figurine. I’m interested in capturing the sheen and refinement of the material, while also questioning our often puzzling relationship with glossy objects.

RÉKA NISNÁNSZKY — LAMP FOR TWO
The design is based on a completely standard lampshade shape — a simple cone. Thanks to cuts on both sides, the lamp can illuminate space for two people sitting across from each other at a small table.

JAN PENKA
A simple cylinder, cut at an angle, reveals an elliptical opening. The matte white porcelain on the inside creates a soft gradient when illuminated by candlelight, making the flame appear larger and more spatial than it actually is.

ANNA RATIBOR — LUFTWEGE — VONLUFTDIESICHVERLÄUFT
LUFTWEGE—vonluftdiesichverläuft is a light installation made of cast ceramic elements, created by molding an industrial air duct — an object that has accompanied me for years. Anonymous, functional, perhaps insignificant. And yet, it connects spaces and creates invisible transitions — a carrier of what lies in between. Through the materiality of ceramics, the duct detaches from its original function and gains warmth, physicality, and fragility.

SAMA SAADATFARD — RESTLICHT
In this work, I removed the metal spring from a Polaroid cassette and modeled it in clay. From this, I created a negative plaster mold. Once I had cast the form, I was able to extract the positive stoneware spiral and remove any excess parts to make its structure more distinct. The metal spring — originally responsible for pushing a photo out of the Polaroid camera — loses its original function as a flexible element in this piece. Instead, it becomes a light object that enters into a dialogue with light, thus taking on a new role.

JOHANNA SCHLOßER — PASTA NON AL DENTE
The lamps are inspired by typical pasta shapes. Similar to pasta production, soft clay is pressed through a large extruder and shaped into oversized ceramic noodles. The process aims for uniformity, but through the deformation, each piece gains its own unique character — together forming a hanging pasta salad. Created by Johanna Schloßer, Industrial Design student at the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

FLORA SOMMER — HELL MUT
The construction site lamp from the ’70s — a widely used, cheaply made piece that works just as well in the workshop as in the living room. As a tribute to this everyday object, a subtle variation in ceramics has been created to shift from harsh workshop lighting to a cozy mood light. A translucent porcelain lampshade diffuses the light evenly — the illuminated material produces a naturally warm tone.