Saving Grace by Adrien Rovero @ Droog
A line from the bio of Adrien Rovero states that he observes “everyday life with humour and distance” and that he “captures iconic situations and infuses them with poetry.” If so, the Swiss-based designer couldn’t be more perfectly suited for working with Droog, the masters of quirky and thought provoking Dutch design [whose name incidentally means “dry” in Dutch, cheekily referring to their sense of humour].
Dry, indeed. A humour that I’ve been appreciating for years, ever since falling head over heels for their 85 Lamps fixture during my studies at Parsons. I was tempted to sneak that industrial masterpiece into every project I worked on, but I did restrain myself and used it only once… and then opted for many of their other playful pieces. I could have been a Droog sales rep in design school — either that or Karim Rashid’s publicist. My architect professors know how much time I spent admiring both.
Of course, I’m now waiting for Rody Graumans to come up with an eco-friendly version of 85 Lamps — perhaps radically pared down and completely outfitted in energy-saving CFL’s. A mini eco version would be sweet.
For now, I’m more than happy to fill my Droog quota with Adrien Rovero’s Saving Grace collection, a series of clever lampshades that are actually shaped around the contours of CFL’s — both the lightbulb and tube versions. They’re made from sandblasted glass and emit a soft, warm glow.
Rovero explains that his goal was to “take advantage of these bulbs and their amazing shapes”, allowing us to “discover the form of the tube through the glass.” A successful case of form following function, but with an eco twist. Who says green can’t be quirky?
