FROM THE 50's TO TODAY: SWING ARM WALL LAMPS CONTINUE TO BE TRENDY

Swing arm wall lamps are super trendy right now. Maybe I am just paying more attention because I love them but lately I’ve seen them used in many interiors styling, from Nordic to more eclectic styling.

They are usually used as a light for the table, in the place of pendant light, or as a reading light near the sofa. In the smaller sizes, they are beautiful also used in the place of the bedside lamps.

The design of these lamps, almost always composed only of a black metal tube and a bulb, is minimal and essential. This can make us thinking they are modern but their success began already in the 50s (although we find some projects already in the 1920s) and most of the iconic projects date back to this period.

Styling: Lotta Agaton – Photo: Pia Ulin

Photo 1 – Minna Jones / Photo 2 – RAGNAR ÓMARSSON

Photo 1 – Greta Cevenini / Photo 2 – Vitra

Minna Jones

The MSC – R2C lamp by French designer Serge Mouille has become a design icon. The designer, who is especially known for its lamps with a modernist design, designed in 1953 the series of lamps “Formes noires” which also includes the wall model (there are also ceiling models, table lamp and floor lamps).

MSC – R2C – Serge Mouille, 1953

Another lamp that is among the most used lamps in interior styling projects is the wall lamp MANTIS BS2 by Bernard Schottlander, nowadays produced by DWC Edition. Designed in 1953, it is part of the Mantis series of lamps.

MANTIS BS2 – Bernard Schottlander, 1951 – DCW Edition

In 1921 Bernard-Albin GRAS designed a series of lamps to be used in offices and industrial environments, which also includes the arm lamp.

LAMPE GRAS N°214 – Bernard Albin Gras, 1921 – DCW Edition

The Potence Wall Lamp is one of Jean Prouvé‘s best known and most successful projects that he designed in 1950 in collaboration with Charlotte Perriand for the famous “Tropique” House. The lamp, reduced to its essence, is composed only of a rotating metal arm and a light bulb. A very innovative project for the time.

POTENCE – Designer Jean Prouvé, 1950 – VITRA

Nemo Lighting has relaunched the Potence Pivotante lamp designed by Charlotte Perriand in 1938 for her small Parisian apartment.

POTENCE PIVOTANTE – Designer Charlotte Perriand, 1938 NEMO LIGHTING

Nemo Lighting also relaunched the lamp of another great master of design, Le Corbusier. The Lampe de Marseille is so called because it was designed between 1949 and 1952 for the Unité d’Habitation project. The characteristic is the lamp shade with two conical reflectors that direct the light in the two opposite directions.

LAMPE DE MARSEILLE – Le Corbusier, 1950 – NEMO LIGHTING

These are other more contemporary examples of swing arm wall lamps where, undoubtedly, we can see that the designers have been inspired by the design icons of the past.

265 – Paolo Rizzatto, 1973 – FLOS