The Americana is one of the many legendary series of lamps by this prominent Spanish designer. The articulated right angle defines the essential geometry of this series, which includes a table lamp, a floor lamp and a wall lamp. The Americana series reinterprets a lamp its designer originally created more than thirty years ago.
The Perspex shade in the form of a genuine old-fashioned American paraffin lamp was awarded a Delta de Oro prize and was Miguel Milá's pride and joy. So much so that he decided to update the nickel base, which had become a thing of the past, and revive the mould he had designed with such notable success. The result is the Americana series, which is in essence the reinterpretation of a lamp he originally designed for Coderch's Hotel de Mar in Palma de Mallorca.
The verticality of the cylindrical nickel stand is modulated through a right angle and articulated to expand the orientation of the light filtered by the shade. The circular base supports a bare, clean, functional, geometrical foot with a strong sense of timelessness. This is one of the few pieces by Milá which makes use of colour. As he himself says, "Colour adds charm, but it shortens an object's life".
As well as the existing shades in blue or white perspex, the start of the second millennium brought the addition of a new shade in the form of a short cone of natural linen. While the first version was reminiscent of oil or gas lamps adapted to electricity, this new shade pays homage to the functional, rationalist straight lines that mark the designer's own style and are a definite sign of the times.
Without changing the basic flavour of the lamp, Miguel Milá comes a step closer here to classical rationalism, giving up the sinuous form of the perspex shade (the inspiration for the M68) to embrace a truly timeless classicism. The linen shade is an improvement both in geometry and in the texture and nuances of the light, while the more nostalgic perspex shade has virtues of its own in terms of form and historical references. The Americana series is available in three versions - floor, table and wall lamps - and is the embodiment of quiet elegance designed to last rather than to dazzle.
Design:
Miguel Milá
Year:
1964
Manufacturer:
Santa & Cole
The Perspex shade in the form of a genuine old-fashioned American paraffin lamp was awarded a Delta de Oro prize and was Miguel Milá's pride and joy. So much so that he decided to update the nickel base, which had become a thing of the past, and revive the mould he had designed with such notable success. The result is the Americana series, which is in essence the reinterpretation of a lamp he originally designed for Coderch's Hotel de Mar in Palma de Mallorca.
The verticality of the cylindrical nickel stand is modulated through a right angle and articulated to expand the orientation of the light filtered by the shade. The circular base supports a bare, clean, functional, geometrical foot with a strong sense of timelessness. This is one of the few pieces by Milá which makes use of colour. As he himself says, "Colour adds charm, but it shortens an object's life".
As well as the existing shades in blue or white perspex, the start of the second millennium brought the addition of a new shade in the form of a short cone of natural linen. While the first version was reminiscent of oil or gas lamps adapted to electricity, this new shade pays homage to the functional, rationalist straight lines that mark the designer's own style and are a definite sign of the times.
Without changing the basic flavour of the lamp, Miguel Milá comes a step closer here to classical rationalism, giving up the sinuous form of the perspex shade (the inspiration for the M68) to embrace a truly timeless classicism. The linen shade is an improvement both in geometry and in the texture and nuances of the light, while the more nostalgic perspex shade has virtues of its own in terms of form and historical references. The Americana series is available in three versions - floor, table and wall lamps - and is the embodiment of quiet elegance designed to last rather than to dazzle.
Design:
Miguel Milá
Year:
1964
Manufacturer:
Santa & Cole
