Hasta La Ideas

NYC’s bars and restaurants currently suffer from an aesthetic issue we call “Edison bulb overload.” We get it, it’s cool that you can see the filament. But how long can this nostalgia-driven trend last? While LEDs are clearly the future, few people have nailed a non-clinical aesthetic for LED bulbs that people trying to create moody spaces will swoon over.

Except for maybe Buster & Punch, the London-based design brand started up by architect/industrial designer Massimo Buster Minale. B&P has thrown out the traditional pear shape we all know for the bulb, instead going for an unapologetically modern take on the teardrop. For the filaments they’ve gone with rational straight rows, giving the impression of computer-controlled order versus the imperfect squiggles of an incandescent filament. According to the company, “The resin light pipe at the centre of the bulb…allows the bulb to create a subtle ambient light, whilst at the same time throw focused spot light onto tables & surfaces below.”

The glass for the bulbs is offered with three options for tint: “Gold,” “Smoked” and “Crystal.”

They’ve also designed a line of unadorned pendant lamps to hang them from, their “Heavy Metal” line. The three color variants have a Machine Age aesthetic to them that perfectly complements the bulbs.

The optional leather shades is where they lose me a bit. They’re made of “the finest quilted Italian calf-leather” along with rubber and brass, but for a bulb and socket that pretty, I prefer to see them bare.

Learn more here.