Harri Koskinen’s frozen lightbulb Block Lamp is another modern classic. Launched in 1995, it has received numerous awards and became part of MoMA’s permanent collection in 2000. The Block Lamp earned the Excellent Swedish Design award in 1998, the Design Plus Award at the Ambiente Trade Fair in Frankfurt, and Best New Product at the Accent show in New York in 1999. “I live with a Harri Koskinen Block Lamp that I think is a clever design. Encasing a light bulb in cast glass, this design is deceptively simple and flexible, and yet offers a meditation on form and function that is reminiscent of earlier periods,” says Monica Obniski, curator of decorative arts and design at the High Museum of Art.
A version of this article originally appeared in “Curator’s Icons” in Sixtysix Issue 13.
