A sushi counter is the shortest distance in a restaurant: one plank of wood, a chef, and a few guests leaning in. Everything happens at arm's length, so the light has to behave at that scale as well. For this counter in Taipei, completed in 2023, we were asked for brightness on the fish and shadow everywhere else.

Light at arm's length

Wireform spheres hang low above the counter, their hand-woven aluminium wire breaking a single point of light into hundreds of small ones. What reaches the wood is a fine net — bright threads and dark gaps that shift a little whenever someone moves beneath them. Along the sideboard and the sake shelf we set the same family closer to the hand, in table form, warm enough to read a label by and dim enough to keep a face half in shadow.

The entrance is a narrow courtyard, and here the two families meet. One of our largest Wireform spheres rests on the gravel, a metre of woven wire lit from within, while a pair of Sypha Outdoor stems stands in the shadow beside it. Their opaline glass carries the warmth of the interior outside without announcing it. Guests step off the lane and their eyes take a moment to settle. That moment is part of the meal.

Nothing here flashes. Light stays close to the work, close to the plate, close to the person across from you. The counter does the rest.