Friday, April 23, 2010

Form & Function





This elegant, white lamp currently graces the display window of an interior store near my house. Isn't it the perfect marriage of form and function? I just love how the fixture incorporates the cord. What a clever idea! Note how the base circles around, creating stability before beginning its ascent. Infused with a playful spirit, the lamp consists of basic, geometric shapes -- line, circle and (truncated) cone. But these simple figures are all that is needed to articulate a lamp's essential elements. Two or three of these would definitely be welcome in our living room. But I imagine this fixture is Danish in origin (= very pricey) so we will probably have to continue living apart.



I like the black, table version as well but, let's face it, this design is less successful. The standing fixture has nicer proportions -- better ratio of height to base. The smaller model has too many twists and turns in too short a distance. I wonder if the designer could have pared down its form without compromising its function?

3 comments:

  1. So why don't elegant designs such as this one catch on, Scandinavian style pricing notwithstanding?

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  2. Hi Brian:
    My theory is that the less fru-fru the more expensive. All the extra bits distract from design flaws or shoddy craftsmanship. This is certainly true in architecture ....

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  3. My own knowledge of design and architecture is very limited, Naomi. But the last few years, for academic reasons, I've had to deal with Shaker design and architecture. At their best, they did a good job fitting form to function, as several of the barn designs demonstrate. But those barns required what for the times were massive investments in labor and capital. Call it the antebellum American version of "the less fru-fru the more expensive."

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