Less Is More: Eureka for Tom Dixon

ETCH LAMP, COURTESY TOM DIXON

The big problem with Milan’s design fair, Salone del Mobile, and the countless satellite fairs, is that you don’t get the satisfaction of making a purchase, proudly walking out of the store with it, and taking it home. Even if you were inclined to buy something, odds are you can’t fit it in any bag. With this problem of instant gratification in mind, a lightbulb went off in the collective mind of UK design firm Tom Dixon who, for this fair produced a limited run of 500 polygonal pendant lamps. Available in either polished brass or mirror-finished steel, they lend an updated form to the cheap thrill of a perforated tin Moroccan lamp. Produced exclusively for their Super Studio Stand in Zona Tortona, Tom Dixon’s mega-watt idea is about 10 inches in diameter and comes flat-packed. Right now, a team of about eight (attractive) men and women in Tom Dixon-branded laboratory coats are sitting at a long table, illustrating the assembly steps that go toward producing the mid-market lamp. At 100 Euro, they are a reasonable take-away (those traveling with carry-on luggage only can pick up  the similarly designed but smaller candle holder for 30 Euro).