Inhabitat » YVES BEHAR LED LEAF LAMP

June 7, 2007

YVES BEHAR LED LEAF LAMP

by Emily Pilloton

Yves Behar’s graceful and gestural Leaf lamp may well be the best known LED desk lamp of our era. Debuting last year at ICFF 2006, the iconic “eco lamp” won rave reviews and garnered a lot of attention and spots on magazine covers for its lyrical form and use of new technology.

We’re a huge fan of Mr. Behar’s design for the One Laptop Per Child, but despite the Leaf lamp’s innovative grid-based use of LEDs and heat dissipation system, we’re not totally convinced about how innovative or green the light really is. The design has received some thoughtful criticism from our friend Lloyd Alter at Treehugger. That being said, the sculptural piece of home decor is certainly eye-catching, constructed from two slim aluminum parts, equipped with a PC board and touch-wheel control that allows you to change the color and intensity of the light.

We’d like to hear what you think about the Yves Behar leaf lamp… Design classic? Or over hyped? Stay tuned for an interview with Yves Behar later this afternoon, in which he weighs in on his approach to sustainable design.

+ Yves Behar Leaf Lamp from Herman Miller

$499 from Room And Board

4 Responses to “YVES BEHAR LED LEAF LAMP”

J Says:

June 7th, 2007 at 1:42 pm

over hyped, for sure. the “sculptural” design is inelegent and lacking all the basics of abstract design, and there are plenty of other LED desk lamps out now that are better performer and less expensive (499$ come on…thats not manufacturing costs, trust me, thats “high design” ripping you off once again).

lindsey Says:

June 8th, 2007 at 11:53 am

looking at the one sitting on my desk (my boss won it in a contest), i’d have to say beautiful to look at but overhyped. or at least severely overpriced. it’s wobbly, the plastic base is not nearly as nice as a metal one would be, and the rubber protector that runs down the center vein over the electrical cord is giving signs it may start to peel away in a year or two. the LED plate also gets surprisingly hot. it’s as though the lamp went into production a few prototypes too early.

for five hundred dollars, i want more than just concept, i want exquisite and luxurious craftsmanship. i’m glad we didn’t pay for the one i have; i would feel cheated.

Stiven Kerestegian Says:

June 9th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

The leaf lamp is probably THE most over-hyped contemporary design “icon”. It’s unfortunate that it has almost reached design icon status because it is undeserving…

First of all, there is nothing “green” about it. Yes it’s highly recyclable and uses relatively less energy but the light it emits is spotty and the the LED’s get hot. The touch sensitive controls are surprisingly counter intuitive and clumsy and at $600+ this is not a viable lighting solution for many to even have a chance of ever recycling. It’s simple and cheap manufacturing processes are not reflected in it’s price tag.

Love most of Behar’s work but sometimes and certainly in this case it’s more about the current popularity of the designer than the actual design quality of the work.

Not to compare the two but it reminds me of Zoolander when Mugatu commented that a designer was so “hot” right now that he could take a poop and put a couple of fish hooks in it and be able to sell it to Queen Elisabeth as earrings…..lol

Dan Ferrara Says:

March 11th, 2008 at 9:14 am

Definitely overhyped and a very poor design which has no relationship to its function as a light source! Fortunate to have a powerful company to that understandably wants to preserve its great image to help with the hype.

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