Hasta La Ideas

Harnessing light in a reliable, functional and attractive way was one of humankind’s major 20th-century achievements. Here in the 21st century, designers continue to push the second and third categories. Here’s the best of what we saw this year.

Atelier de Troupe’s Kyoto series consists of sconce lights made, surprisingly, from cast aluminum.

Industrial designer Bernhard Osann’s Bird is an elegant desk lamp with no base.

These VL 56 pendant lamps, designed by functionalist architect Vilhelm Lauritzen in 1956, got a 2023 upgrade.

On the weirder side of things: The Macrozone Fan Lamp, by industrial designer Yuchao Lin, features hidden fan blades that deploy at the press of a button.

Industrial design consultancy Minoko designed this Kelvin Epos 300, a precisely adjustable film/photography light with an industrial aesthetic.

With his Dipping Light, product designer Jordi Canudas employs a unique production method for coloring the glass lampshades.

This peculiar lamp is by Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido. Our guess is it was made as a promotional item in the 1980s.

The Méduse pendant lamp, by industrial designer Lukas Bazle, features a user-transformable lampshade that changes the directionality of the light.

Architect Maxime Prananto’s Continuous Chandelier is meant to be a contradiction, incorporating an I-beam, chains, and the circular fluorescent bulbs associated with cheap kitchens.

With his B.A.R.E. Lamps, artist/designer Lucas Muñoz Muñoz shows us minimum viable product in lighting design.

This Unico series of beautiful lamp switches and dimmers is by Studio Huub Ubbens.

These minimalist bollard lights are by architect and industrial designer Christian Flindt.

The Bolita lamp, by product design studio Kaschkasch, has a surprising kinetic interface.

Spot, by industrial designer Renaud Defrancesco, is a concept design with dual user-adjustable rotating LEDs.

Naoto Fukasawa’s Half Dome series of lamps incorporate subtle haptic touches.

Dyson’s Lightcycle Morph Lamp, despite its engineering-over-design aesthetic, is still a very intelligent design with multiple applications.

Swedish company Bookman Urban Visibility has developed a variety of fun form factors for lightweight, rechargeable safety lights for pedestrians and cyclists.

Speaking of fun form factors, this 1970s-style manually adjustable Bill lamp is a concept by industrial designer Stefanie Kay.

Industrial designer Inga Sempé’s w153 Island is an improved design for a clamp lamp.

Inspired by traditional Japanese bowls, these lacquered pendant lamps are by industrial designer Keiji Takeuchi.

Outside-the-box: This Plusminus lighting system, by industrial designer Stefan Diez, is based on power-conducting webbing straps.

The indoor/outdoor Ray Lamp is stylish portable lighting, by British industrial designer Daniel Schofield.

Product designer Alexey Danilin’s Amulet Lamp combines hand-blown glass and LEDs.

The Funambulb, by Swiss design brand Superlife, is designed to be easy to hang anywhere.

The impossibly-thin Poise Lamp series, by German lighting designer Robert Dabi, are infinitely-adjustable ring-light-like lamps.

The latest design evolution of portable lighting: Neck lights with magnetic, removable flashlights.

Originally designed for ships, these Skot lamps by Louis Poulsen look great on land.

These would’ve been a smash hit in the 1980s. Govee Curtain Lights turn walls/windows into animated Lite-Brites.

In Europe, construction workers use LED strip lighting on reels to illuminate jobsites. Super bright and convenient.

And finally, the Philips Ellipse asks: Should the light bulb be a design object in its own right?