Industrial Revolution

I enjoyed Karly's post on rough and tumble agrarian chic immensely, possibly because it might be the perfect foil for my new obsession: industrial chic. I know, we should stop using the word chic because it has the aura of class, and we all know that Klassy = Sarracuda t-shirts. If I once again employ the transitive property A=B and B=C, therefore A=C, then we can agree that chic is a very bad word indeed. Special brownie points and a gold star to anyone who can think of a better word than chic, but which also sounds good with agrarian and industrial. "Bravura" is not an acceptable submission. It might help if I showed you some pictures, right?

Industrial light fixtures have been de rigeur in the kitchen since stainless took over as the metal of choice. The oversized pendant lights on the left evoke 30s/40s elegance in a thoroughly modern kitchen, while the (tiny picture of the) green wall-mounted beasties on the right from Desire to Inspire's fab site are a little more turn of the 20th century.

Actually, get ready to see a lot of pics from Desire to Inspire because Kim is remodeling her own kitchen and she and I share similar taste in fixtures, including articulated lamps like the ones I posted about recently.

The Style Files also showcases some great kitchens, including this very simple one with gargantuan pendant lights:

Speaking of lights with titanic proportions, check out this baby from CB2:

She is very sexy, no? Like a polished fusilage or jet afterburner, whatever those things are. Too bad that rug is KILLING me. Too small, too red, too marled. Actually, I like marled things... I just had to add one more insult for a little bit of tertiary symmetry.

Time for some retail therapy:

Pendants and sconces and a SCISSOR lamp, oh my! All from Pottery Barn -- seriously -- except for the bottom left one, which is from Restoration Hardware.

I have a rabid scissor lamp fetish... start snatching them up where you can because people are getting fizzy over them on Ebay. I kind of think either super sleek or super crazy, like this funky green pair from Radio Guy:

Radio Guy has some awesome fixtures (plus a ton of really weird masks and mannequins) in a more turn of the century vein, and I can definitely get down with some old school shizz, like these cage lights from Rewire.

Hotness! These are from 1915-1920, and Rewire says they're shown with Edison bulbs. Can you even buy those anymore??? (Totally unnecessary aside: maybe they should be called Tesla bulbs, since Edison was such a damn dirty thief...) Whereas the 30s/40s sleek chrome fixtures would be fabulous with more rustic materials, I think these antique fixtures need a more modern backdrop to give them bite.

Par example, check out this hot number via Desire to Inspire:

Perfect combination of all that is good: bare natural materials in conjunction with clean hard lines, and to accessorize: THE MOST AMAZING LAMP EVER (check check and checkmate).

Bongiorno, I am the the most amazing lamp EVER, designed by maestro Mariano Fortuny in 1907. Yes, that Mariano Fortuny. I may be over 100 years old, but I look as fresh as a newborn babe, and I represent all that is holy and good in the lighting universe. As a matter of fact, even though I was originally designed with theatrical and photographic industries (wink, wink!) in mind, I am so hot that no one would dare think of hiding me behind a curtain. Because I'm hot. And Italian. And expensive. And did I mention hot?

There's no topping that. But I shall press on bravely.

Some more inspiring images via Desire to Inspire, soon to be followed by a veritable onslaught of retail lighting goodness.

Floor lamps that aren't as cool as the Fortuny, but we can't all be gazillionaires: Clockwise from the top left we have Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn (!), Chiasso (that hunk of steel is over 6 feet tall), and Pottery Barn (again!!).

And for those of us that aren't even thousandaires (thanks, Reaganomics!), even Ikea has some good lights with game:

Wouldn't it be cool if that sconce were really that big? Like four feet tall? Wouldn't it also be cool if it took a regular bulb instead of a halogen one???

You all know by now that I'm partial to brass and gold, but maybe I'll take my cue from fashion and mix and match metals with abandon.

All lamps from Circa Lighting, which is fast becoming a favorite, except for the top right, which is from CB2 (another perennial provider).

Even Sundance is busting out with goodies, like this Luminary Lamp. Yeah. Sundance

Stay tuned for my next post on Friday, where I fully intend to cover industrial furnishings that are totally unrelated to lighting. Because in my world, there are only two categories: lighting and not lighting. In the meantime, try not to get too overwhelmed by all of the choices out there and end up like this guy:

Electricity is dangerous, and something tells me he may want to step away from the wires.

(via pan-dan)

Light Up My Life

Because I know that you want to see some cheer and loveliness, rather than just the mean snarky top design review that I usually post on thursday, I want to introduce you to the lamps that I am currently coveting:

and it's sedate fraternal twin:

both lamps are by Thout design and I must must have the top one.  Now, do I want 2 for my bedroom or for the guest room?  White?  Black?  My head is spinning.

If you really want to see some hardcore light porn, you best get over to if the lampshade fits.  like, now.

Don't worry, Top Design review is just around the corner

Trip the Light Fantastic

Whooowee kids, I am feeling lazy this Monday. I may have a touch of the Olympic fever... you know, the kind of marathon malaise that comes from staring wordlessly into the boob tube for hours on end. But never fear! Here at Design Crisis headquarters we power through even the worst cases of indolent slothiness to deliver your weekday eye candy fix. Behold the brightness!

There's nothing like a little Tom Dixon pendant light porn to send an electric jolt through the system. CLEAR! Yes, I am already feeling resuscitated by my lust -- which knows no bounds -- for those gorgeous copper globes... they're like a million little MC Escher balls (sans the topsy turvy staircases and gecko lizards. Thank God.)

More righteous pendulosity coming your way: check out these Swarovski crystal-filled net sack thingies with lights in them. Yeah. Net sacks via Yanko Design.

Eva Hesse-ish, aren't they? Kind of like creepy jewelry for your home.

Not to be outdone in the crazy department, these anthropomorphic lights have potential to create some seriously silly atmosphere.

Shoal chandelier by Dominic Bromley and Trophy Lamp by Isabelle Rolland (at Unica Home). That deer head is pretty damn awesome BUT it costs $7600. Uh, no. However, it kind of inspires me to just rip the head off one of those plastic Christmas reindeer that inexplicably hover around the baby Jesus' cradle at nativity scenes, and then shove a light down its throat. That sounds like a plan.

And now, a pair of lamps so brilliant, I think their golden glow may have emanated from that mysterious briefcase in Pulp Fiction:

Above, Philippe Starck's Gun Lamp from Hive Modern. Below, Tony Wurman's Backlight at Wunderwurks.

Obviously I have a minor obsession with weird gold things, and Karly is determined to paint anything that won't move (and perhaps even some things that move slowly) shiny, glorious gold. Although the two of us are gentle creatures, I nevertheless predict that violence would ensue if an awesome reader (or deep pocketed sponsor?) sent an (one) golden gun lamp to DC Headquarters. Now Karly is six feet tall and ridiculously buff and I am but a wee five-one and significantly less buff, but I've had five years of Kung Fu lessons, dawg. I'm pretty sure that Karly would piledrive my ass all WWF wrestler style, but I could try to put up a good fight for the right price two lamps. Are you listening, Hive Modern? The pictures will be fantastic!

Next up, a flurry of bright lights from Generate Design:

Lefty is cast from rubber by Tobias Wong, and that makes me laugh for some reason. Why is rubber funny? Is it me? Or is it just jokey that something usually sharp and delicate has been rendered soft and flaccid? Flaccid rubber wong? And what do you think about the bundle o' light cords? There's a DIY project in the making, but I wonder if all those lights would blow a fuse in my old house... only one way to find out.

Last, but not least, one more from Generate Design:

Love, love, love the picture, and the plexiglass chandelier is pretty cool, too. Designed by Buro Vormkrijgers, Therese costs $2,569.00.

Looks like a job for super Ponoko to me.