When it comes to the subtle art of industrial design, probably no other name holds more cultural weight than that of Wilhelm Wagenfeld. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential leaders of modern design in the 20th century, the German designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld helped pioneer modern industrial design. One of his creations that contributed greatly to this endeavor is the so-called Wagenfeld Lampe.

It is said that a man’s worth is best judged by their work. If that were the case, then for Wilhelm Wagenfeld it would be the Wagenfeld Lampe. Arguably Wagenfeld’s most popular industrial design, the Wagenfeld Lampe is a small geometric table lamp made of steel and plate glass. Wagenfeld designed the lamp in 1928 in collaboration with Katl Jacob Jucker during their stay at the famed Staatliches Bauhaus of Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany. The lamp’s design was said to have been created as Wagenfeld’s solution to an assignment given to him by Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, his Hungarian professor and the acting administrator of the Bauhaus at the time. Because of its close association with the school, the Wagenfeld Lampe is also known to many as the Bauhaus Lamp.

What sets the Wagenfeld Lampe apart from its contemporaries was that it was streamlined in its design. The lamp basically consisted of three parts: a flat, circular base at the bottom, a tubular stand at the middle, and a spherical glass lampshade on top. The base and stand were made of nickel-plated steel, chromed steel or clear plate glass, while the lampshade is of mouth-blown opalescent glass made translucent to diffuse the light evenly. The Lampe’s design earned both Wagenfeld and Jucker praise, with critics calling it a beautiful design that made efficient use of materials.

Today the Wagenfeld Lampe is still being manufactured, most notably by the Technolumen company of Bremen, Germany.