Lamps

The Pteleobius Lamp.

I’m not a huge fan of combining raw materials with polished chrome or steel. The juxtaposition seems forced most of the time, so when I come across something that works I usually get pretty excited.

Working with raw logs, and insects known as Pteleobius, designer Maxim Vaslyaev has created a lamp named after said bugs. The insects eat the bark off of the wood leaving exotic abstract patterns etched into the hardwood below. To highlight the patterns created Vaslyaev has accented the log with a fluorescent lamp suspended on steel poles above the surface. The luminare is housed in a polished chrome housing that contrasts the organic feel of the etched wood below. The lamp has a really nice feel to it balancing made made and raw natural materials, with the random patterns created by the insects.

Materials Elm Log, and Chromed Steel tube, Fluorescent Lamp, and Insect Larva.

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The Aplomb Concrete Lamp.

I’ll admit it, I have this strange fascination with things made out of concrete. By that I mean things that you wouldn’t normally use concrete to make. Things like furniture, light fixtures, counters, cabinetry, etc. Part of this comes from the fact that when we think of concrete, we tend to think of things like cinder blocks, building materials, heavy weighted, dead objects; but when we see something made from the material that is light and beautiful, it knocks you for a loop. This set of light fixtures from Foscarini did just that for me.

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The Aplomb Lamp, is a wonderful concrete pendant made from a more fluid type of concrete that is lighter in weight, and lends itself to being molded much like slip clay. By using a specific type of concrete and molding process, Foscarini was able to design and manufacture a thin conical pendant lamp that holds all of the textural characteristics we think of when we think concrete. The lamp maintains the texture, the rigidity, the natural and almost earthen feel. There is a rigid and solid quality to the Aplomb pendant lamp.and The fixture feels light, almost like it were cast from foam, and it has this great sculptural quality to it that reminds me of Constantin Brancusi.

I know, I have nowhere to put them in my house, but I still dig them.

Ray Power “Air” for LFZ.

I have always been fascinated with bent wood furniture. The idea that you can take a substance like Plywood and form it into an organic sinuous shape is wonderful.Today while browsing a ton of websites looking for replacement bed-side lamps I came across Air from LFZ.

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Ray Power has designed the Air lamps for LFZ which are made from a substrate called Polywood. The lamps have a natural and contemporary feel to them that is easy to love. Appropriately named Air, the lamps have a lightness to them that is expressed through the thinness of the material, and the bent organic form. Air is made using super thin sheets of polywood which the designer has manipulated into this unusual organic silhouette. Air is available as both a wall mounted lamp, and a desk lamp. Both come in a variety of colors, ranging from primary hues, to more neutral earthen tones.

Air was the recipient of the prestigious Red Dot design award, and the Good Design award in 2009. That doesn’t surprise me at all because these look stunning.

The Feline Lamps From House of Micha.

I love this. I love the lamps, and the coordinating animation is amazing. Designed by House of Micha, these lamps are representations of cats. Developed by Kuntzel+Deygas these hemispherical lamps produce soft reflected light, and are posed in various postures of the felines at rest and at play. The lamps are signed, numbered, and produced in limited edition. The prices look like they run from 1000 Euro to 1400 Euro depending on the size and take about 8 weeks to get. If I had the extra cash I’d by three or four.