History
Luminaire was born as a visionary environment representing the intense appreciation of design by its owners, Nasir and Nargis Kassamali. The idea of Luminaire had been embedded in Nasir's mind long before he arrived in the U.S. He had long-enamored the works of Le Corbusier, Mies Van der Rohe, Alvar Alto, Arne Jacobsen and the Bauhaus movement. Unable to import good design to East Africa, where the Kassamalis were born and raised, Nasir manufactured his own designs using local craftsmen. Thirty-three years ago the designs he created were pure and minimal, from furniture to fashion to jewelry, and, like all good design, they remain current today. Moved by the intense desire to influence the environment in which we live by educating and exposing people to good design, Nasir and Nargis began the ongoing realization of their dream.
The Kassamalis opened up Luminaire in 1974 with a 500 square-foot store in Miami specializing in European lighting. Within two years, Luminaire grew to 4,500 square-feet, adding a wider range of products including furniture and accessories, making many of them available for the first time in the United States. In 1984, the Kassamalis built an award-winning flagship store in Coral Gables and added another location in Chicago in 1989. A 35,000 square-foot state-of-the-art corporate headquarters and distribution center was completed in January 2000. In April of 2001, the Chicago showroom was expanded to occupy 3 floors of an old timber building in the heart of River North are in Chicago. In October 2002, Luminaire Contract opened in the Miami Design District. In March 2003, Luminaire opened the Boffi Kitchen and Bath showroom in Coral Gables. In January 2007, Luminaire Contract moved to a larger location across the street in the Miami Design District, housed under the same roof as Luminaire Lab, a 7,500 square-foot showroom specializing in showcasing new and exclusive pieces from our top manufacturers, with a constantly changing environment. Originally a lighting store, Luminaire has reached ever further in its mission to stimulate a public enlightened to design.
As their reputation as curators of good design grew, the Kassamalis worked hard to maintain the personal customer service that differentiated their business from others. Almost without knowing it, they changed the entire system of distribution for contemporary furnishings. They exposed consumers to good design through showrooms open to the public and informational programs with the world's leading designers.
Like good design itself, Luminaire is constantly evolving and re-defining itself. More than thirty three years after its inception, Luminaire continues to alter its existence, always maintaining a leadership role in bringing the best designs from around the world to the American public, making good design part of many lives.
