Miguel Milá Americana Lamps Series
The Americana is one of the many legendary series of lamps by this
prominent Spanish designer. The articulated right angle defines the
essential geometry of this series, which includes a table lamp, a floor
lamp and a wall lamp. The Americana series reinterprets a lamp its
designer originally created more than thirty years ago.
The Perspex
shade in the form of a genuine old-fashioned American paraffin lamp was
awarded a Delta de Oro prize and was Miguel Milá's pride and joy. So
much so that he decided to update the nickel base, which had become a
thing of the past, and revive the mould he had designed with such
notable success. The result is the Americana series, which is in
essence the reinterpretation of a lamp he originally designed for
Coderch's Hotel de Mar in Palma de Mallorca.
The verticality of the
cylindrical nickel stand is modulated through a right angle and
articulated to expand the orientation of the light filtered by the
shade. The circular base supports a bare, clean, functional,
geometrical foot with a strong sense of timelessness. This is one of
the few pieces by Milá which makes use of colour. As he himself says, "Colour adds charm, but it shortens an object's life".
As well as the
existing shades in blue or white perspex, the start of the second
millennium brought the addition of a new shade in the form of a short
cone of natural linen. While the first version was reminiscent of oil
or gas lamps adapted to electricity, this new shade pays homage to the
functional, rationalist straight lines that mark the designer's own
style and are a definite sign of the times.
Without changing the basic
flavour of the lamp, Miguel Milá comes a step closer here to classical
rationalism, giving up the sinuous form of the perspex shade (the
inspiration for the M68) to embrace a truly timeless classicism. The
linen shade is an improvement both in geometry and in the texture and
nuances of the light, while the more nostalgic perspex shade has
virtues of its own in terms of form and historical references. The
Americana series is available in three versions - floor, table and wall
lamps - and is the embodiment of quiet elegance designed to last rather
than to dazzle.
Design:
Miguel Milá
Year:
1964
Manufacturer:
Santa & Cole
Miguel Milá designs
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