LED1 Lamp

red dot: best of the best
red dot award: product design 2009

A cultural touch of wood
Wood is a very special material because it signifies a connection to the forest and thus to something that is non-artificial. Maybe that is the reason why natural wood is in vogue again and even unvarnished wood has long lost its old-fashioned image. A highly exciting interpretation of this material is presented by the LED1 lamp. It was created by the Finnish designer Mikko Kärkkäinen, who follows in the tradition of Finnish designers such as Alvar Aalto and Tapio Wirkkala, and who, with his products, aims to establish a connection with today’s living environments – a self-proclaimed cultural transformation that he achieves well: the LED1 lamp features a design of geometrically clear lines which at first sight underscore the appearance of a highly functional light source equipped with the latest generation of LED lamps. However, when users touch the lamp’s wood surface for the first time, they might be surprised. The “homely” and pleasing smoothness of the material also holds in store a tactile surprise: a touch-sensitive switch lies hidden underneath the wood surface and reacts immediately when touched even lightly. Thus, switching on the lamp conveys an experience of lightness – just as if this function was an organic part of the wood itself. This kind of design was facilitated through an innovative merging of traditional woodwork processing with new technologies; wood is thus reinterpreted in a new context. The LED1 embodies a lamp that unites not only apparent contradictions in material, but also those of the zeitgeist in a highly coherent product – a pleasure to experience that leaves one wanting to touch the lamp again and again.