Zaha Hadid: Between Tension and Compression

(jiří macek) The unusual organic floor lamp entitled Genesy designed by Zaha Hadid was conceived as an abstract diagram of development. The renowned architect designed it for the Italian brand of Artemide.

The organic structures by Zaha Hadid permeate the world of architecture and, increasingly often, the world of design as well. She describes the Genesy lamp as an organic record of the development of trees or as a continuously growing tree crown, which represents the inspiring element of the light, made from polyurethane foam with two light sources – an LED directional light and a halogen dispersive light. Branches, as in the living organism of bushes and trees, distribute the stress into the structure, provide it with lightness and dynamics, and enable it to grow. The lamp could easily serve as a bridge arch. However, one should look for nature behind it. “Nature continues to inform the design as these branches frame voids, enhancing the contrast between positive and negative, convex and concave, tension and compression,” explains Zaha Hadid.

Artemide products can be found in the company’s showroom in the Prague quarter of Holešovice.

< back