Tolomeo Desk Lamp (1986)

The Tolomeo desk lamp was designed in 1986 by  Michele De Lucchi (pictured right) in collaboration with Giancarlo Fassina for the Italian lighting company Artemide.

At the time Giancarlo Fassina was in charge of Artemide’s technical department and played an integral role in the design of the technical aspects of the lamp. As a result Michele De Lucchi decided to share design attribution with him on the project.

The design consists of a heavy aluminium base supporting two straight aluminium arms and a reflector head which can swivel 360 degrees. The arms are held in place by steel tension cables connected to springs in constant tension hidden within the arms.

Primarily a task light, the Tolomeo Desk Lamp also provides a hint of ambient lighting through a small opening in the lamp head. Visual contrast is also created through the use of finishes with the base of the lamp having a polished finish whilst the reflector head and arms have a satin finish.

In 1989 the Tolomeo Desk Lamp won the Italian industrial design prize; Compasso d’Oro. (On an interesting side note the Castiglioni brothers contributed to the establishment of this design prize in 1954.)

As a result of its popularity the Tolomeo lamp has since come out in a number of versions including a floor lamp, fixed wall lamp and clip on lamp, all of which are still manufactured by Artemide today.

For more info on the Tolomeo lamp and Michele De Lucchi visit:

• artemide.com 
• micheledelucchi.com
• designdictionary.co.uk

Related Posts:

• A is for Aalto – Aalto Vase (1936)
• B is for Bertoia – Diamond Lounge (1950)
• C is for Castiglioni – Arco Floor Lamp (1962)

This great documentary by Britt Arthur recently screened on ABC 1 in Australia.

‘Life Architecturally follows internationally acclaimed husband and wife team, architect Robert McBride and interior designer Debbie Ryan, to discover what inspires their groundbreaking architectural concepts and designs. This intimate documentary observes the pressures of building a multi-story, twin-tower development; revolutionary new schools, one in the shape of an infinity symbol, and the ongoing construction and design of their own family home – which is on the backburner once again due to how busy they are. Plus, they’re part of an international consortium short-listed to design and construct the new billion-dollar Cancer Care Centre in Melbourne.’

The documentary is now available to watch on ABC iview

Watch the preview for the documentary below:

Related Post:

• Klein Bottle House – McBride Charles Ryan

This video was doing the rounds back in December but I still want to share it with you. Created to promote the Eames exhibitions and events in the Pacific Standard Time Cultural Festival.

Interestingly before his rap career Ice Cube studied architectural drafting. In the video he describes the Los Angeles he knows and gives props to Charles and Ray Eames.

Love the line: “They was doing mashups before mashups even existed.” – Ice Cube

via archdaily

Related Post:

• Eames Lounge Chair – Moving with the times
• A Gathering of Elephants
• The Eames Lounge and Ottoman (1956)

So… It has been well over a year since my last post.

A combination of being busy with work, spending an average of over 4 hours per researched entry and being frustrated that My Design Fix had turned into something that mainly documented the creative pursuits of others while neglecting my own led to the blog taking a serious back seat for a while.

But I’m back – and hopefully with a vengeance. The photo above is a sneak peak of one of the architectural projects that has been keeping me busy on the construction site for much of the past year.

So stay tuned – I’ll be back with more after this short commercial break…

Aidan

Before it becomes a distant memory I want to put up some photos from the ‘Mid-Century Soirée’ that I attended last month. Held at the famous Walsh Street House in South Yarra,  the cocktail party was organised by Outré Gallery to coincide with US artist Shag’s ‘Inscrutable Mystery Guide’ exhibition.

The Walsh Street House was designed in 1958 by the architect Robin Boyd and is featured in two of Shag’s paintings, one of which was the centrepiece for the evening.

Shag and his painting ‘Dickie Bird’ at the Walsh Street House  Photo: John Raptis

When I found out about this event it was as if the planets had aligned. I’d get to meet one of my favourite artists and experience the Walsh Street House (something I had wanted to do for a while). On top of that it was at cocktail party with such a great theme.  Walking through the front door of the house was like stepping onto the set of a Mad Men episode.

While getting my photograph taken with Shag I learnt that this party was the first time that he himself had visited the house and that his paintings ‘Dickie Bird’ and ‘Robin’s Nest’ were both done from photographs. Shag also confirmed that his painting ‘LA Modern’ is based on the Stahl House (just mirrored) and that the photographer in the painting is the late modernist architectural photographer Julius Shulman.

Sheradyn and I with ShagThought I’d try out one of the Featherston Lounges

It was great to be able to walk through the house (drink in hand) and experience it as it was intended – as an entertaining house. Often when visiting architectural icons in a tour situation it can seem a bit clinical having to follow a ‘Bee-Line’ through the space.

The view of the children’s wing from the courtyard

The view of the parent’s wing and living area from the courtyard (with Bertoia Diamond Chairs in the foreground)

I was in my element with all the amazing detailing. From the cables supporting the roof  and balustrade-less balcony through to the built in joinery and brick floor. I also really loved the lighting both inside the house and in the courtyard – definitely something you can only experience at night time.

To commemorate this event and the ‘Inscrutable Mystery Guide’ exhibition Shag and Outré have released ‘Dickie Bird’ as a limited serigraph print. I think after such an amazing evening I’ll definitely have to get myself one.

Thankyou Outré for organising such a unique and once in a lifetime experience.

Other related posts on My Design Fix:

• Shag Exhibition – Inscrutable Mystery Guide
• Josh Agle (aka Shag)

Below are some more photos from the evening taken by John Raptis. via Desktop Mag 

‘This work is playful, but I’ve tried to throw a couple spanners into what people might expect from my art.  I’ve created 99 small, colorful paintings of tikis, but each tiki bears a symbol.

"Inscrutable Mystery Guide" is actually the little book that accompanies each small tiki painting.  It’s my hope that the books won’t be seen by anyone except the person who owns one of those paintings. I want to bring them into my own little cult and tell them some secrets.

In addition, I’ve created several large, panoramic canvases which will give further clues as to what the whole thing is all about.  In the past year my work has gotten darker and moved into new themes and imagery, but I’m trying to reconcile my old body of work with my new work, and trying not to be as manic depressive and serious as I was in the last year or so.’  - Josh Agle aka Shag

It was also a nice surprise to see Artist’s Proof prints of most of my favourite Shag paintings from previous exhibitions on display. Above Left: ‘Dickie Bird’ (the centrepiece of the Walsh Street House cocktail party) Top Right: ‘An Extraordinary Evening’ (the first Shag painting I ever saw and fell in love with) Above Left: ‘The Relentless Party’, Bottom Right: An original Shag painting from the 90’s

I love the stairs in this one (Hey! I’m an architecture geek – give me a break!) Funnily enough it’s titled ‘The Stairs’

Above Top: ‘The Marauder’ (I’ve got this one hanging proudly on my wall at home) and Bottom: ‘Rose Seidler’s House’

The exhibition is showing in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth:

• Outré Gallery Melbourne: August 14 – September 3
• Outré Gallery Sydney: August 21 – September 10
• The newly opened Outré Gallery Perth: August 28 – September 17

For an in depth review of this exhibition check out the Shagwatch Blog or for more info on Shag and Outré visit:

• www.shag.com
• www.outregallery.com

I’ll follow up this entry shortly with some photos from the Mid-Century soirée with Shag at Robin Boyd’s Walsh Street House so stay tuned…

This is a really cool letterpress project designed and illustrated by Ty Mattson of Mattson Creative to mark the announcement of the birth of his son. The letterpress printing was done by Studio on Fire onto 220lb. Lettra paper. I really love the type, simple colours and attention to detail.

• mattsoncreative.com
• beastpieces.com (blog of Studio on Fire)

Above: Ty Mattson’s original rough sketch and Below: the final illustration (pre letterpress)

This is the third post in a series of 26 on modern design icons (inspired by the Alphabet of Design Classics Poster by Blue Ant Studios.)

Italian brothers Achille (1918-2002) (pictured right) and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1913-1968) are considered one of the great innovative design partnerships in modern industrial design. Both studied architecture at Milan Polytechnic but due to the lack of architecture commissions in Italy immediately after WWII focused much of their attention to industrial design.

Arco Floor Lamp (1962)

The “Arco” is an iconic floor lamp designed in 1962 by  Achille and Peir Giacomo and can be found in many a modern lounge room throughout the world. Linking the qualities of both a floor lamp and a hanging lamp, the “Arco” satisfies the need for direct light on a table without having to be fixed to the ceiling.

The base of the lamp is carved from white marble and weighs approximately 65kg. Such a heavy base was required to achieve the 2.2m cantilever and marble was an economical choice at the time due to its abundance in Italy. A hole through the sides of the base serves two purposes –  a fixing point for the stainless steel stem and a space to insert a long object such as a broomstick so the lamp can be easily moved.

The arched stem is made of three pieces of stainless steel which can telescope into one another, enabling the light to be set at three different heights and concealing the wiring.

The lamp’s reflector is made of two pieces of aluminium: a perforated fixed dome and a swivelling ring for adjusting the direction of light.

The Arco floor lamp has been manufactured by the Italian lighting company, Flos since its founding in 1962.

For more info on the Arco lamp and Achille Castiglioni visit:

• www.flos.com
• www.achillecastiglioni.it
• www.designmuseum.org

Related Post:

• Alphabet of Design Classics Poster – Blue Ant Studios
• A is for Aalto – Aalto Vase (1936)
• B is for Bertoia – Diamond Lounge (1950)

For those of you that have been following the progress of Dabe Alan’s camera tattoo sleeve  things start to get a bit digital in Part 3…

“So for this video the main two things that you’ll see are my very own Canon 5d Mark ii, and my favorite mouse I’ve ever owned, the Logitech MX518 (I TOLD you this was gonna get nerdier). With the addition of the glowing mouse, all the green that was glowing on the other cameras makes sense. You’ll also notice the 35mm film turning into pixels as it gets higher. Oh but it’s not gonna stop just there…” – Dabe Alan

For more info on the tattoo and stop motion film check out Dabe Alan’s flickr page here. His website is also looking pretty cool these days – www.dabealan.com

For more great work and other impressive nerd sleeves check out Tony Touch’s flickr page here

If you haven’t seen the previous parts of this stop-motion film check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here

Titled the DHAN series, it consists of base modules that include a fully fitted bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and living space as well as smaller expansion modules such as additional bedrooms or living areas. With over ten different modules to choose from, multiple configurations can be created to suit any family, lifestyle or site. This allows owners to extend or add freestanding modules when needed as well as having the flexibility to downsize over time.

The DHAN series is characterised by finishes and details developed in Donovan Hill’s domestic architecture. Off-white interiors with timber window and door frames allow the personalisation of interiors by owners. The timber pelmet incorporates general room lighting as well as provision for art and curtain hanging. Plywood exteriors suit Australian environmental conditions and are offered with a colour choice to suit individual settings. Distinctive roof forms and coloured ventilation flaps characterise the exterior form.

Completed entirely off site in controlled factory conditions the modules take between 4-12 weeks to complete and can be installed on site within days. This is great for the environment as only one trip to the site is needed instead of builders and deliveries having to travel to the site each day over a number of months.

Due to their quick construction and flexibility this type of housing can also make a difference in emergency relief. Donovan Hill’s Happy Haus model was amongst nineteen designs selected for the Bushfire Homes Service for rebuilding homes that were destroyed in the 2009 Victorian bushfires.

• www.happyhaus.com.au
• www.donovanhill.com.au
• www.wewillrebuild.vic.gov.au

Photography: Jon Linkins

Images via archdaily