A reinterpretation of three iconic lamps from the 19th century. L&B Gallery asked me to design a piece under the theme “Diseño Pieza Unica”. I took this opportunity to develop a project based on a set of illustrations of iconic design pieces I had previously explored. 

What motivated this work was a reactionary feeling after moving back to Barcelona from New York in 2014. I felt the design field and industry were stuck in a model that didn’t work anymore, where design was still considered to be for the elite, dependent on an inexistent industry and economy, and following old paradigms.

The result is an interpretation of three iconic lamps: Bauhaus Lamp (Wilhelm Wagenfeld and Carl Jacob Jucker, 1924), AJ Lamp (Arne Jacobsen, 1960) and Cestita (Miguel Milá, 1964).

I collected free digital information about these lamps from the internet: 3D files, plans, measurements, illustrations and photos. With all this publicly available information, I deconstructed and reconstructed the objects following an axonometric view. I made the digital image physical by printing it with a Rolland cutter, modifying the cutting tool and replacing it with a drawing tool (a common marker). The result of the image is a combination of my drawing and the machine’s drawing. This combination makes each drawing unique because the interaction between the machine and I was inevitably never the same.

The paper used is a type of Japanese paper, which I made translucent by applying heat. Nothing but heat was added to create the effect. This translucency allows the Oled light source placed in the back to glow through the paper, releasing a soft and smooth light. The heat also makes the paper a bit wavy, which I found was a gratifying consequence that adds an analogue feeling to this high-tech project.