Despite its relatively short existence, the Bahaus school in Germany preached the modern synthesis of fine and applied art. Founded in 1919 by renowned architect Walter Gropius, the characteristics of the Bahaus style, or International as it was also known, was that of “form follows function”, wherein there is the absence of ornamental elements and the harmony between function and design. One such embodiment of the Bahaus style is the so-called Wagenfeld Lampe.

One of the modern industrial designs that the Bahaus school has greatly influenced is the so-called Wagenfeld Lampe. Also known as the Bahaus Lamp, the Wagenfeld Lampe is a steel-and-glass table lamp designed by German industrial designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld in collaboration with Karl Jucker in1924. The Bahaus lamp was produced after the re-organization of the Bahaus school under the Hungarian painter Lazlo Moholy Nagy, and that the lamp was said to be a solution to an assignment given to Wagenfeld by Nagy.

Like most Bahaus-influenced designs, the Wagenfeld Lampe was constructed almost entirely of steel. Two versions of the lamp exist: the glass type and the steel type. In the steel version, the lamp’s tubular stand and base is constructed out of high-gauge steel coated with a layer of chrome. Earlier versions of the lamp were coated with a nickel finish instead of chrome, and are especially sought out due to the yellowish patina the nickel creates over time. In the glass version, on the other hand, the stand is made from a tubular glass with a nickel tube core, creating an “X-ray effect” that allows people to view the working parts of the lamp. Both versions, however, share the same milky-white industrial-grade globular lampshade that helps diffuse the light. In addition, the lamp also features a distinctive “spout” for the pull cord and an electrical feed line covered with black fabric.

Because Wagenfeld and Jucker used only basic geometric shapes- a circular base, cylindrical shaft, and a ball-like shade- they were credited to have achieved “both maximum simplicity and, in terms of time and materials, greatest economy” with the Wagenfeld Lampe. Ironically, despite the lamp’s industrial roots it should be noted that the first few productions of the Bahaus lamp was entirely hand-made, making the fabrication very difficult and time-consuming. However, modern reproductions of the Wagenfeld Lampe are mass-produced under state-of-the art automated manufacturing processes, with only several parts (such as the mouth-blown lampshade) still being crafted manually.