The lamps in my house

gist

Fatih Arslan tours 17 designer lamps in his home, from Richard Sapper's Tizio and Isamu Noguchi's Akari lamps to his own 3D-printed Block Lamp. For each he gives the designer, year, and origin, along with how he uses it at home. He says none are cheap and probably not worth their price, though they are worth it to him as a collector, and that IKEA sells well-designed lamps for about a tenth of the price. He adds that many can be found at vintage stores or fairs.

ideas

• Richard Sapper's 1972 Tizio carries electricity through its arms. Counterweights balance it so it moves with one finger, and its red details echo the TrackPoint on the IBM ThinkPad that Sapper later designed.
• Noguchi's Akari lamps use washi, a traditional Japanese paper. Noguchi started the series in 1951 after visiting Gifu, and Arslan says every lamp is still made by hand at Ozeki, a family-run Gifu workshop.
• Poul Henningsen's shade system hides the bulb. He created the three-shade system in 1925 for the PH 3/2, and the 1958 PH 5 uses the same idea so the light always feels soft.
• Arslan 3D-prints parts to fit lamps to his furniture. He designed an adaptor for his Tolomeo on a USM Haller desk, a clip attachment for a HAY Apex on Vitsoe 606 tracks, and his own Block Lamp.

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