Slash Lamp: A Unique Lighting Object by Dragos Motica

Provoking Personal Choice Through Innovative Design

The Slash Lamp is more than just a lighting object; it's a statement on design and user interaction. Motica's inspiration for this design came from questioning what makes an object valuable or precious. He wanted to create an object that could exist in two opposite states, depending on the user's intervention or lack thereof.

The lamp's unique properties lie in its ability to establish a personal relationship between the object and its end user. By giving the user the choice to either break the lamp or leave it intact, Motica empowers the owner with a decision that ultimately influences the lamp's final aesthetic. The lamp is designed to show the beauty of light filtering through broken reinforced concrete, with a cork interior to protect the LED lights if the user chooses to break it.

The Slash Lamp is made from reinforced concrete, cork, and LED lights, with a birch plywood spool. The lampshade is created by pouring concrete into a silicone mould over a wire mesh, then air-dried and polished smooth. The lamp is suspended from the ceiling by a textured cord, attached to a carabiner and spool to adjust its height.

The project, which started in January 2014 and ended in May 2014 in Bucharest, was presented at Romanian Design Week 2014. The design process involved extensive research into different mixtures of cement and sand to create a concrete that was soft enough to be broken by a stone, yet strong enough to prevent cracks during handling. The most significant challenge was finding a way to center the wire mesh in the middle of the 9 mm thick concrete wall.

The Slash Lamp is a testament to Motica's innovative approach to design. By challenging the user to make a personal choice, he has created a unique lighting object that is both functional and thought-provoking. The lamp's design, which embodies extraordinary excellence and significantly impacts the world with its desirable characteristics, earned it the prestigious Golden A' Limited Edition and Custom Design Award in 2015.