Florida Design Magazine

Florida Design

Issue : Winter 2025

The spring 2024 issue of Florida Design is on newsstands today! On the cover: a Miami Beach residence with interior design by Joe Nahem and lighting design by Nathan Orsman. “Lighting can create beauty,” says Nathan Orsman, an architectural and landscape lighting designer with offices in Miami, New York, and Southampton whose illumination skills are revered here in the United States and abroad. “Take this Miami Beach apartment, for instance. The moment you step in it, you’re immersed in color and texture that provide an experience unlike any other.” Orsman’s statement is spot-on given visitors enter the residence through a resin archway by artist Hoon Kim illuminated with a long, suspended tube of light. The eye- catching feature is just one of the many reasons interior designer Joe Nahem called on Orsman for the project, where the lighting expert’s approach to illumination is on display everywhere one looks. Gaze at the ceilings long enough and you’ll witness Orman’s minimalist approach at work: filtered light through thin gaps and small dots. Behind a wet bar, ribs of light within a tile backsplash were perfectly matched to the size of the slabs so their pattern would not be interrupted. In the primary bedroom, a brilliant surprise: a cube of stained-glass panels backlit to the precise contrast encloses the bathroom. And in the kitchen, a chandelier by Pia-Maria Raeder that strikes a theatrical note thanks to Orsman’s backdrop of backlit floating shelves. “Our job is to highlight the architecture and interior design,” says Orsman. “It was a joy to work with a designer like Joe and homeowners like these because they were all willing to make big statements.”