A previous post on this site indirectly celebrated Henry van de Velde through a showcase during Milan's Design Week. Let's continue the thread today with a different celebration, a lighter one if I may say so (we will be hopefully exploring in a more in-depth way van de Velde in future posts on this site).
A few months ago, Nomad, the solar rechargeable and multifunctional portable lamp designed by Alain Gilles Studio for O’Sun (and featured in a previous post on this site), won the Henry van de Velde Label, a quality label for Flemish design (promoted by Design Flanders), and also won the Henry van de Velde Public Award 2012.
The drop and sock-resistant lamp gets the energy for its LED panel from an integrated solar panel, providing a great substitute for fossil fuel lighting, heavily used in parts of the world without access to electricity.
The lamp was initially designed for families living in developing countries with no access to electricity or who find themselves in emergency situations such as natural or humanitatran disasters, but the product is obviously an environmentally friendly solution for all of us.
In a statament released for the Belgium is Design 2012 event, Gilles said, "I believe in functionality. Whether I create fairly artistic objects or more everyday products, I always make sure that they are, or remain, very functional and highly usable. Nevertheless, I always want them to tell a story and convey a message. In the case of the Nomad solar lamp this narrative had to be readable by different audiences with different needs and wants. More than functional in terms of its performance, its appeal had to be multifunctional: to be able to serve as the one and only light for a whole family, while at the same time being a desirable enough product for design-lovers to want to acquire it. A tool of necessity and a reflection of user behaviour and consumption, above all else this lamp is an object where functionality is key."
Last month Gilles' lamp proved it is genuinely multifunctional: the lamp reappeared at the beginning of March in Paris during the presentation for Jean-Paul Lespagnard's new collection.
Rather than bags, Lespagnard's models carried Gilles' lamps decorated with sparkling gems, proving there are fun ways to integrate interior design and fashion, promoting collaborations, raising social and ecological awareness and celebrating Henry van de Velde as a beacon of light in the art, architecture and design fields.
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