“GA9” appears to be inspired by a droplet, floating upward the wall. The mouth blown glass with bubbles creates an intricate play between light and shadow, giving the appearance of light travelling through water.

Swedish architect and designer, Erik Gunnar Asplund, is celebrated as the godfather of functionalist design in Sweden. Like his celebrated Stockholm City Library, these lamps emphasize geometric simplicity and clarity of form. The construction of this model is ingenious, with a bent arm holding the glass in place, with yet another arm holding the light source in the centre of the luminaire. The black lacquered metal bends organically into sinuous forms, while the backplates have a polygon shape. Pairing the geometric elements with the more organic one shows Asplund’s great eye for design that was ahead of his time. The large, mushroom-like mouth blown glass shades have distinctive “drops” on their surface, creating a beautiful effect that becomes even more apparent when the light is on. The atmospheric light it creates is not measurable, nor is it functional in the traditional sense. It is easily forgotten, but nevertheless important when creating a space of wellbeing. It is the most basic and fundamental of all lighting principles, one that has been with us since the dawn of time. Asplund’s life and work served as inspiration to a number of Scandinavian design luminaries, such as lifelong friend and mentee Alvar Aalto, as well as Erik Bryggman and Arne Jacobsen.

An acronym for Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (“General Swedish Electrical Limited Company”), ASEA was a Swedish manufacturer of electrical products and industrial infrastructure. The company endures in the hearts of design lovers for their mid-century interior lighting collections produced in collaboration with venerated designers like Gunnar Asplund.

SOLD

‎Condition:

In good vintage condition. Wear consistent with age and use. The metal structure has some marks and scratches.

Dimensions:

10.23 in W x 15.74 in D x 10.62 in H

26 cm W x 40 cm D x 27 cm H

About the designer:

Erik Gunnar Asplund, born in Stockholm in 1885, was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of the Nordic classicism of the 1920s.

He studied architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. After completing his studies, he worked for Asplund Tengrom architects, Westman and Ostberg. He completed his architectural training, with long journeys through Sweden and other parts of Europe. Asplund worked alone and obtained a large amount of his work through contests.

Asplund was a professor of architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology from 1931. His appointment was marked by a conference, later published under the title "Our architectural concept of space. Gunnar Asplund is considered perhaps the most important Swedish modernist architect and has had a great influence on successive generations of Swedish and Nordic architects. Among the most significant works of Asplund is the Stockholm public library, built between 1924 and 1928, which represents the prototype example of Nordic classicism and the so-called Swedish grace movement.

During the period from 1931 until his death, Asplund moved away from Modernism and began to show sympathy towards a stripped Nordic classicism. Asplund continued to draw until his death in Stockholm in 1940.