Product Design — Entekhab Design Studio

Nira

A minimalist light, drawn from the silhouette of the Persian desert lighthouse

Origin — the Mil, a desert lighthouse Sketches — from guidepost to silhouette Prototyping — model making, by hand Outcome — produced for Entekhab Design Studio

Origin

A lighthouse of the desert

"Mil" (or "meel") is a Persian word for a type of ancient tower or guidepost that functioned as a lighthouse of the desert for caravans in Persia. They weren't coastal lighthouses, but inland navigational aids — often featuring a fire at the top to guide travellers across open country.

Nira draws its silhouette directly from the Mil, reimagining a historic guidepost as a minimalist sculpture for the modern interior — a beacon re-sited from the desert to the home. The project opened with cultural research, market analysis, and trend analysis, grounding the form in the real history of the Mil before any sketching began.

Historical minaret and Mil tower references

Sketches

Finding the form

Concept development moved through brainstorming, moodboards, and sketching, then into refinement — detail drawing, material selection, and rounds of feedback. Early sketches worked out the balance between the brushed aluminium top and the marble cone below, well before any material was cut.

Nira concept sketches: an aluminium dish on three legs, a brushed-aluminium disc on a flared stem, and Nira itself — a dish holding three shades of light on a tall marble cone

Prototyping

Model making, by hand

From sketch to object: the brushed aluminium disc was machined and test-fitted by hand, checked against the cone at full scale, and iterated until the proportions read the same in the room as they did on paper.

Close detail of the brushed aluminium finish

Outcome

Into production

Nira moved through to production for Entekhab Design Studio — manufacturing and quality testing — carrying the Mil's silhouette from a centuries-old desert guidepost into a finished object for the home.