The Plumen Lamp

The first time I saw the Plumen Lamp I was taken by the sinuous lines and was reminded of Art Nouveau, I had blogged about it and compared it to the forms of that iconic architecture.

The Compact Fluorescent Lamp had as much charm as bus shelter and the quality of light was flat and gave a slightly greenish wash to surfaces and our skin. And governments were trying to get us to switch to that from the warm and inviting glow of incandescent. It was a hard sell. It was used for public spaces where we rushed through.

Lighting manufacturers began to improve the quality of light by adding more red to the spectrum and the light did improve. Behind a big white shade it gives a generous spread of light and it is good to read by, it doesn't cast shadows and is functional.

I began to see the uses of it, CFL in the right place can provide good, functional light. But you needed to keep it behind a shade. It looks great with a black shade.

When I saw the Plumen Lamp, now that was imaginative and what a challenge, to take the functional CFL and turn it into light sculpture.

Sam Wilkinson met that challenge with a brief for an aesthetic low-energy light bulb with the instructions to  ‘design something amazing’

Last year I met him and talked to him. I mentioned the light, reminded me of Art Nouveau forms, he said it was more Deco shapes. Many have compared it to a trees. He told me how he persuaded manufacturers, Hulger to reposition the glass tubes in the ballast which enables the tubes to interlace.

I have spoken to other lighting designers and they equally find this lamp a tremendous improvement considering we have to meet efficiency regulations and make an attractive well lit environment. This lamp meets both, efficiency and is attractive.

From a project in progress in Oxfordshire.

Sam is designing other items, a glass shade for this lamp, furniture and installations.

This is my entry into Case Furniture Contemporary Blogging Competition. Find out more at Case Furniture

Robin Day

We have all sat on this chair, sometimes for a few hours at a time. This chair has become so common place that we forget the ingenuity of the design. It was designed in 1963 by Robin Day for S.Hille & Co.

The brief for this chair was for a low cost mass-produced stacking chair, affordable by all and to meet virtually every seating requirement. That is some brief, all demanding. But imagine the challenge it must have been for Mr. Day, the fun of  researching and finding the new materials on the market. Interestingly the chair has no wood. Similar earlier designs by Eames, Saarinen and Jacobsen used moulded plywood, fiberglass and steel. Expensive production.

But when polypropylene was invented, it took some imagination to see this thermoplastic used as furniture. Can we imagine the world today without plastics in furniture?

One of the elements I admire about this chair is that after sitting in it for a couple of hours, you don't feel uncomfortable; it is upright enough to support the back, it is low enough  for all heights and the round edge at the front of the chair is easy on the back of the thigh. So the ergonomics of the human form are well thought out. I wonder who's bottom was used to form the mould.


This chair which has been in continuous production and has sold over millions worldwide, it is an icon and has won much deserved recognition as a design classic. It made us all think again about sitting, construction and materials.

Another iconic chair Day designed is the 675 Chair. This has the same qualities of moulding to the human form. It is sleek, elegant with the walnut plywood back and arms and comfortable padded seat and the slim, bent steel structure.

“A good design must fulfill its purpose well, be soundly constructed, and should express in its design this purpose and construction,” Robin Day, wonderfully said.

This is my entry into the Case Furniture Blogging Competition. Find out more at Case Furniture