IDS12: Philippe Starck Integrates iStuff Charger into Light Fixture ...

© FLOS

It's interior design show time in Toronto, a sort of more public version of New York's ICFF with a single trade day and a crazy crowded weekend. Five years ago when I started covering it for TreeHugger, a lot of attention would be paid to "green", there were even sections of the floor devoted to it. It is much harder to find what one might call sustainable design today, with manufacturers either claiming that it is "baked in" but not a big part of their marketing, or just ignoring it as a fad that has come and gone.

So one has to take a flexible position on what belongs on TreeHugger, like this new lamp from Flos, designed by Philippe Starck. We do love designs that combine multiple functions, and the D'E-light integrates an Apple-ready charging base into a small and elegant flat panel LED desk lamp made of polished aluminum. Starck describes it as “When the iPad, a source of information, becomes a source of light.”

Self Portrait in D'E-Light /CC BY 2.0

Flos CEO Piero Gandini says "The resulting creation satisfies our daily need for information, knowledge and entertainment while incorporating a radical yet extremely functional design."

Perhaps. My first reaction was that it is pretty limited with just a charger, it should also have a USB connection for the computer, but that really is becoming less important with the cloud and wireless connectivity. My second reaction was that it is pretty limited, just connecting to Apple, what about Blackberry or Android? And then I looked at the latest news. My final thought is if I was really going to use the iPad or iPhone, I would want a stand that worked horizontally as well as vertically and had a bit of adjustment to it. So in the end it is really little more than a parking space and a charger, rather than a useful integrated working tool. Which is a shame, because it is a wonderful idea, and a very elegant lamp.

David Pinter of PSFK with D'Elight; Lloyd Alter/CC BY 2.0

Most of our ICFF coverage will start on Monday, but I just had to get this up early before David Pinter of PSFK did. More at FLOS