Designer Andreea Avram Rusu looked below the surface for inspiration for her new Marea lighting collection. Translating to “the sea” in Romanian, the Marea collection is informed by Andreea’s childhood summers on the Black Sea and her love of scuba diving. Aspire spoke with Andreea for this week’s Anatomy of a Design to see how the design came to life.

Surface takes a look inside the life of Andreea Avram Rusu and her Brooklyn design practice, which she launched in 2004 after working as an architect but finding herself wanting more sculptural lighting options. To say the Romanian-born talent’s free-flowing fixtures fit the bill is an understatement—she channels her background as an architect, tango dancer, and child of scientists into crafting dramatic yet delicate luminaires inspired by the outdoors, from underwater seascapes and Lisbon’s botanical gardens to the magical energy of supernovas.

Surface takes a look inside the life of Andreea Avram Rusu and her Brooklyn design practice, which she launched in 2004 after working as an architect but finding herself wanting more sculptural lighting options. To say the Romanian-born talent’s free-flowing fixtures fit the bill is an understatement—she channels her background as an architect, tango dancer, and child of scientists into crafting dramatic yet delicate luminaires inspired by the outdoors, from underwater seascapes and Lisbon’s botanical gardens to the magical energy of supernovas.