Spread the light

Designer Jaume Ramírez is fascinated by timeless design and interested in the archetype of table lamps, in which a lampshade distributes light in all directions. As a result he designed Fragile, a table lamp that mixes geometric figures, a cone and a sphere arranged to accommodate a cylinder that emits ambient light from below. In the material of the lamp, we find emotion and the glass reveals not only the light source, but it speaks of purity, lightness, while its structure seems to hold up effortlessly in any environment.

Jaume, as a creative, what is your design philosophy?

Design is the consequence of one or several actions. Following this definition that I like very much, I think that design for me is like a fine line that begins in thought and ends when something can be seen and/or touched. I can’t describe my design philosophy, but what I can say is that I read philosophy which helps me a lot to think about the projects I want to do and how or why I want to do them.

Can you share with us the inspiration behind your latest lamp design, Fragile?

Explaining through a simple object that the world is changing is an ambitious thought I often have, and it acts as a driving force for me to start a project. This has been the case. I often read essays that accompany me and help me understand what we are doing here and what we are here for. Marina Garcés, Paul B. Preciado, Bruno Latour, Vinciane Despret, Peter Sloterdijk have accompanied me and influenced me in thinking about this subject.

On the other hand, unconnected to the previous one, a drawing of a fragile lamp has been repeated in my notebooks for years without knowing very well why. I also remember being obsessed with this archetype of table lamp and spending hours exploring on internet because in almost every living room there was one of these.

What has the journey and process been like for you personally?

I asked a friend if it was possible to have a led at the base of a light to illuminate the rest and he said no. I got angry when I was in the glass room. I got angry at the glazier when he told me he couldn’t do exactly the way I wanted and I didn’t go back for more than a year. So that idea remained unmade all that time, locked in my head. Some time later, I went back to the glazier and told him to try what I proposed. I showed it to a company to see if they wanted to produce it and they said no. Now I sell them myself. Now I sell them myself and every time someone buys one, it fills my heart. Thank you.

Today, we add a new point and part because Marset is from now on the one who sells them.

What are the aspects behind the Fragile’s shape and physicality?

We have built an archetypal table lamp with glass, and while separately its materiality or shape may seem innocuous, when put together, at least from my perspective, the lamp is “transformed into a new object, which at least from my point of view, connects with the moment we live in and it’s transformation.

Jaume, what message or emotions would you like the public to experience when they see Fragile?

During the press presentation at the Milan fair, I spoke to several journalists, and a funny thing happened with most of them: Instead of them asking the questions and me giving the answers, they asked me the question and gave the answer at the same time, so I just nodded.

What does the Fragile bring to the world of design that sets it apart from other lighting solutions?

The lamp was not created for this purpose. Developing projects that look to the world of design only or to the opportunities offered by the market seems to me an opportunistic principle to create that I do not share. Today, designing cannot be only a creative act free of responsibility that obeys the impulse of the individual or that of a company or the need for market differentiation. We have a great responsibility that confronts our impetus or drive to create and the transformation that our world is undergoing, which is running out.

Jaume, where do you imagine the Fragile lamp?

I would really like to see it on Paul B’s bedside table.