Lagos-based Nifemi Marcus-Bello of NMBello studio just launched the Selah Lamp 2.0 as a collaboration with the Madrid-based fabrication studio Caliper. The design indulges the fusion of two different cultural standpoint, creating a quintessential Nigeria meets Spain design moment.
Nifemi Marcus-Bello and Caliper present the Selah lamp 2.0
Marcus-Bello and Caliper's paths first crossed 2 years ago, when the designer discovered the company when looking for a fabricator for a client project in Europe. After examining their design vision and visiting their factory, it felt like a fitting location for the piece's construction. Soon after the production, the team at Caliper approached him to invite him to take part in their design programme, which led to the idea to create a new version of the Selah lamp.
Made of galvanized steel with a hand-crafted Corian lampshade, the Selah lamp 2.0 is an evolution of its first edition. During the making and idea conception, the designer had wanted it to be more mobile than its initial make. The idea was to create something that could fit into any flat, be carried around easily without trucks, resulting in the lamp's new flat pack design with dimmable LED bulb.
The structure of the Selah Lamp has always been trifunctional, as Marcus-Bello was open to having people interpret the functionality of the product to their own taste. As he explains to Wallpaper*, he never knew the lamp could be a stool until someone sat on it during a visit in his studio and he realized the product's versatile potential.
Marcus-Bello loves a good collaboration, and to him that’s been one of the most exciting things about putting together this project. 'It was a good one,' he said. 'I think, that with collaborations, if there's no knowledge exchange, then they don't really need to happen. So there was heavy knowledge exchange from my end, from their end. I learned a lot. I think they learned a lot from me as well. I think the beautiful thing about it was that they were also keen to understand why the product in itself had to be improved.'
The finishing is the designer's favourite part: 'I like the contrast. You understand the juxtaposition of the steel and the yellow Corian,' he says. 'I think it works really, really well. I also like the fact that It just feels very unobtrusive. It has been considered for how we live our lives now, where we need products that have an identity, but at the same time that adapt to how our lives are being lived.'
The product is a limited edition of 25 pieces and can be purchased via Caliper
