"Mayday" Lamp

Konstantin Grcic’s Mayday Lamp exemplifies the industrial designer’s aspirations to rethink conventional products for the home. This portable lamp is probably his best-known work to date and was realized with the Italian design company Flos. A practical rendition of an industrial lamp made for domestic use, Mayday Lamp was born out of Grcic’s dissatisfaction with contemporary lighting solutions. His love of Formula 1 racing, specifically the no-frills lamps employed by auto mechanics, served as a source of inspiration. Portable, funnel-shaped, and equipped with a hook that enables them to be secured under the hood of a car, these safety lamps provided the basis for Mayday. The large hook crowning the top of the lamp is functional, but it also acts as a decorative element in the uncluttered design.