Dezeen Magazine

Lampe Cabanon by Le Corbusier

Nemo Lighting showcases "abandoned" Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand lamps

Italian brand Nemo Lighting recently unveiled a previously unseen lighting design by architect Le Corbusier and lamps by architect Charlotte Perriand, which are on display during 3 Days of Design.

Le Corbusier's Lampe Cabanon and the Lampe de Bureau collection by Perriand were on show in Nemo Lighting's Copenhagen showroom, which opened during the annual 3 Days of Design festival.

Le Corbusier's light was designed for and is named after his Cabanon seaside cabin, which the architect created as a seaside escape away from Parisian city life.

Le Corbusier-designed lamp
The original Lampe Cabanon was made from a mortar shell

It was originally made from very specific locally available materials.

"The lampshade, made from sandpaper that the architect used, was crafted from a wartime artifact – a mortar shell carrier – found on French beaches," Nemo CEO Federico Palazzari told Dezeen. "The lamp, for which numerous sketches and designs exist, represents a moment of rebirth in the post-war world."

Rather than a mortar shell, the new version is constructed from black zinc and green-painted tracing paper and was made in collaboration with the Le Corbusier Foundation.

Lighting design by Le Corbusier on a wooden table
The updated version was presented at 3 Days of Design

Also in Copenhagen, Nemo Lighting showcased two designs that are part of the Lampe de Bureau collection by Perriand and launched this year, a reading light and a wall light.

The Lampe de Bureau light was originally created for French glassworks Boussois in 1965.

Like the Le Corbusier design, Nemo Lighting created the Perriand designs from original sketches.

"Starting from the necessity of illuminating the faces reflected in the mirror of a cabinet designed for the famous French glassworks Boussois, in 1965 Charlotte Perriand designed the wall-mounted version of the Lampe de Bureau, later transformed into a table lamp," Palazzari said.

Reading light by Charlotte Perriand
Designs by Charlotte Perriand were also on show

Both the Le Corbusier and Perriand lamps are part of the brand's Masters collection, which also features pieces by Italian designer Vico Magistretti, Japanese designer Kazuhide Takama and design team Franco Albini, F Helg, A Piva and M Albini.

Producing these lamps was a way to ensure more people have access to designs originally created for very specific locations, according to the CEO.

"Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand's lamps were conceived as absolute projects, made exclusively for the architectures for which they were designed," Palazzari explained.

"Most of these designs were abandoned and Nemo, together with the Le Corbusier Foundation and Pernette Perriand, industrialised these designs as they were conceived."

Wall lamp by Charlotte Perriand
Her Lampe de Bureau has been designed in a wall version

The Lampe Cabanon was first presented at Salone del Mobile this April. Also on show at 3 Days of Design is a sofa by Danish brand Takt that was "designed for repair". Other recent Le Corbusier projects on Dezeen include a collection of tapestries created by the architect.

The photography is courtesy of Nemo Lighting.

Lampe Cabanon and Lampe de Bureau are on show during 3 Days of Design 2023, from 7 June to 9 June 2023. Follow the live coverage on Dezeen live: 3 Days of Design in Copenhagen

See Dezeen Events Guide for information about the event, plus a list of other architecture and design events taking place around the world.