The Lamp That Borrowed Its Idea From a Sailing Boat

Charlotte Perriand joined Le Corbusier's studio in 1927 and worked for seven decades afterwards — on interiors, on furniture, and on the mountain resort at Les Arcs.

Her lamps are the most economical objects in the Nemo catalogue. The Potence Pivotante of 1938 is two black tubes assembled into an inverted L. The arm doubles as the cable route, and the whole thing swings from a single wall fixing. She took the idea from a sailing boom.

One added part

The Applique à Volet Pivotant does the same job with one component more: a hinged shutter that swings across the front. Push it and the same fitting gives direct light, reflected light, or none at all. There is no switch to find in the dark — the adjustment is the object moving.

Seven decades of work, and the parts count never went up.