Lighting design doesn't always get its moment in the spotlight, so to speak. While some design classics in tables, chairs and sofas are household names, it's rarer even the most iconic lamps have that same name recognition value.
That's not to say, however, that the best table lamps in design don't stack up against the other design elements that make up a home. Lighting designs are among the most elegant and innovative, and many are instantly iconic — recognizable, if not by name, then by how often they grace even the most modern homes today.
So for those looking to get better acquainted with good lighting design, what are the names to know? We asked 7 interior designers, part of the 1stDibs 50 (an annual list curated by this site of designers that value extraordinary and original design), to name their favorite design icons — whether classic or modern — in the field of lamps. These are the pieces they think you should know about.
1. Noguchi Model 24N Table Lamp for Akari
Year: 1950s
Designer: Isamu Noguchi
Style: Mid-Century Modern
If there's one lighting designer whose work is informing interior design trends right now, it's Japanese artist Isamu Noguchi. Noguchi's paper shades in sculptural forms are being used in modern interior schemes to bring soft, glowing light to spaces. The model 24N, like this one from 1stDibs, is one of the designer's most recognizable pieces.
"Noguchi’s Akari light sculptures are poetry in light form," says interior designer Brigitte Romanek, founder of Romanek Design Studio. "They bring a serene, soft glow that transforms any room. I love the blend of traditional Japanese materials with modern design, it’s the perfect mix of simplicity and sophistication, adding an ambient touch that’s both calming and chic."
2. Robert Mathieu Pendulum Floor Lamp
Year: 1950s
Designer: Robert Mathieu
Style: Mid-century modern
Designer Damon Liss' choice of iconic lamps comes from French designer Robert Mathieu. This "Pendulum" floor lamp, model 56, has clean lines, and a classic mid-century style that still has timeless appeal in modern interior design. The golden sphere on the end, acting as a counterweight, also allows you to adjust the height.
"Working as a watchmaker before opening his first lighting store in Paris, Robert Mathieu was one of the best mid-century lighting designers in France," Damon says. "His designs reflect precision, expertise, and ingenuity, focused on function before form. This particular lamp has a counterweight for balance, exhibiting a beautiful lightness and elegance synonymous with Mathieu’s work."
3. Ghiande Alga Table Lamps by Roberto Giulio Rida
Designer: Roberto Giulio Rida
Style: Mid-century modern
Italian designer Roberto Giulio Rida is known for extravagant designs using Murano glass and crystal, and these Ghiane Alga table lamps, picked by designer Bryan O'Sullivan, are the quintessential examples of his work.
"Rida’s work is always meticulously crafted, these gorgeous lamps are handmade brass decorated with fusion glass," Bryan says. "They feel so very special and make a great bedside or drawing room lamp."
4. Adolf Loos Jegendstil Silk and Brass Table Lamp
Year: 1900s
Designer: Adolf Loos
Style: Jugendstil
An example of Jugendstil design, a style of Art Nouveau emerging from Germany around the beginning of the 20th century, this pretty decorative table lamp embodies the design trends of today, too.
"Designed in the early 1900s, this lamp has stood the test of time," Boston-based designer Fern Santini tells us. "Quirky and discreetly elegant, this lamp with its beautiful silk skirt, adds such softness to any environment."
5. Polimnia Floor Lamp by Studio BBPR
Year: 1960s
Designer: Studio BPPR
Style: Mid-century modern
"BBPR was an extremely important and influential architectural partnership from Milan, and this lamp, which was designed in the 1960s, is emblematic of their signature style, drawing on elements of the Medieval and the Space Age," Adam Charlap Hyman, principal of interiors at Charlap Hyman & Herrero, explains.
The studio consisted of four architects, who were latter-stage practitioners of 'Italian Rationalism', a style of design influenced by classic Roman architecture, minus the decorative flourishes.
This lamp is constructed from stainless steel — unusual when cheaper polished chrome was more widely used at the time — which, combined with the forms of the glass lampshade and "Sputnik"-style legs, calls on the "futuristic" inspired aesthetic of the 1960s and 70s.
6. Cedric Hartman 1UWV Lamp
Year: 1960s
Designer: Cedric Hartman
Style: Contemporary
For Leyden Lewis, the most iconic lamps come from a singular maker — Cedric Hartman. "Cedric Hartman designed the most elegantly structured, simple way to house and disseminate light," Leyden explains. "The lamp does what it needs to do without trying to do anything else."
The 1UVW model features a base that's often replicated in modern lighting design today, but that's not its only legacy. This floor lamp is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, too.
7. Zeca Lounge Chair by José Zanine Caldas
Year: 2010s
Designer: Olivia Cognet
Style: Post-Modern
To round things off, New York-based interior designer Monica Fried has a more modern design classic to suggest. "I love Olivia Cognet’s work and her designs are sure to become classics — they're just the right amount of modern organic cool," Monica says.
The French ceramic artist moved to Los Angeles in 2016, bringing her post-modern, abstract lamp designs, as well as vases and wall decor, to the American market. The raw authenticity of rough clay comes alive under the glow of a bulb — while their unexpected, undulating forms stand apart as pieces of sculpture more than just a table lamp.
