

Taken together, the piece is “a wonderful blend of clean lines, circular hinges, and exposed cabling,” according to Greenwood. Jane Greenwood, a principal at Kostow Greenwood Architects, says that its design sits “at the cusp of the technology boom” thanks to details like its aluminum material, fully adjustable articulated arm with polished die-cast aluminum joints, and tension-control knobs. Ming Thompson, a co-founder of architecture and interior-design firm Atelier Cho Thompson, is a fan of Anglepoise’s Type 75 lamp, noting it strikes “a balance between simple, modern forms and exposed mechanical elements,” and would be at home on both “an architect’s drafting table and a work-from-home desk.” With a spring-loaded articulated arm and adjustable shade, it comes with a CFL bulb and is available in several jaunty colors, including yellow ochre and Saxon blue.Īdjustability: Articulated arm, 360-degree rotating head | Base: Standard, clamp, in-set pivot | Style: Task, 3 colorsĪnother architect favorite is the Tolomeo table lamp, designed in 1989 by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina and made in Italy for Artemide. “Both are elegant in their own right, with a classic silhouette and form that they’ve kept fresh with new finishes and colors,” says Brian Wilson, a co-founder of Pair, an office-furniture company based in San Francisco. As architect Mei Lun Xue puts it, “Anglepoise lamps are super-classic and look good everywhere.” The two most popular models are the Original 1227 Task light designed in 1935, and the more modern Type 75, which is a bit more streamlined and received slightly more nods from our panelists. Adjustability: Articulated arm, head | Base: Standard | Style: Task, 10 colorsīritish company Anglepoise has been making task lamps since the 1930s, and its various styles are the runaway favorite among the architects and interior designers we spoke to.
