Lovely glass, cheerful lights – Lamps by Fülöp Bechtold
Clothing label BEBI Loungewear has launched several collaborations with young designers, first adding a pottery collection by Luca Tar and now Fülöp Bechtold’s pendant and decor lamps to their selection. Not unimportantly, Fülöp also received the Best Object Design Award of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design for his items, which is one of the reasons why we decided to take a closer look at them. Though at first glimpse they appear to be quite simple, the specifics of their making make it clear that from a technical point of view, the design is anything but.
“Bori and Dóra’s magnificent streetwear pyjamas radiate joy and cosiness, which is what I was attempting to translate into glass”, says Fülöp. And in fact, loveliness, cheerfulness, and cosiness could also be the perfect words to describe the lamps, too. The starting point for the design process was the flower motif featured in different ways and forms on the garments – and yet the lamps are far more than a three-dimensional representation of a simple pattern.
In the spirit of variety in form and playfulness, a special tool was created for making the lamps. It defines the internal cross section and the profile thickness of the glass forms, while providing complete freedom in adjusting the external diameter, as well as the profile length and height during the process of blowing, resulting in no two identical pieces. This means the lamps in the store come in many different varieties, just like the flower patterns of the clothes. As Fülöp himself put it, it was important for the lamps not to form a rigid system.
The design process was further complicated by the fact that a conventional chandelier cord would not be able to support the weight of the glass elements, and so a custom pendant was created for this purpose. There was also a fair amount of design challenge involved, as the lamp forms are fully closed, which means the whole fixture can only be attached from the top. Ultimately, the glass elements and all parts of the pendant were produced at the university’s workshops, with the result that Fülöp not only designed the initial sketches, the elements, and the production process, but also did his bit when it came to execution. Lovely glass, cheerful lights – and a great deal of dedication.
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Fülöp Bechtold is a Ceramic Design MA student at Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. His consultant for the project was Péter Borkovics, and he was aided in execution by James Carcass.
