Gherpe | Lamp by Superstudio, Italy for Poltronova

Here is a lamp that interprets the classical form of the Nautilus shell with cartoon-like ambiguity. The designers' intention was to provoke a reaction, and to destabilize preconceived notions or expectations of objects normally found in the home.

Cristiano Toraldo di Francia (one of Superstudio's ringleaders) recalls "perhaps influenced by my keen interest in marine biology, one summer morning in 1967 I dreamt of a shape half animal, half artificial. Once in my studio I immediately set to work, and built a model with several progressively lengthening strips of colored sheets [of plastic] fastened across a wooden block with a single screw".

Both the lamp as well as the effect of the light can be changed by rotating its six moveable "leaves" around a central pivot. It can produce simple white light or an atmospheric, colored glow.

Superstudio, 1968. Table or floor lamp in laser-cut, heat-formed methacrylate, in white or red, chrome-plated brass fittings. Made by Poltronova.