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Flaca stainless steel lamp is an exemplar of green design

Flaca stainless steel lamp is an exemplar of green design
Masiosare Studio's Flaca low-energy, stainless steel desk lamp can be bent into shape with the user's bare hands
Masiosare Studio's Flaca low-energy, stainless steel desk lamp can be bent into shape with the user's bare hands
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The Flaca's stand requires only four bends to assemble
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The Flaca's stand requires only four bends to assemble
The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail
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The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail
The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail
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The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail
The Flaca as it comes, in flat-pack form
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The Flaca as it comes, in flat-pack form
The Flaca as it comes, in flat-pack form
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The Flaca as it comes, in flat-pack form
Masiosare Studio's Flaca low-energy, stainless steel desk lamp can be bent into shape with the user's bare hands
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Masiosare Studio's Flaca low-energy, stainless steel desk lamp can be bent into shape with the user's bare hands
The Flaca has a five-step assembly, and one of those is taking it out of the packaging
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The Flaca has a five-step assembly, and one of those is taking it out of the packaging
Dimensions of the Flaca
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Dimensions of the Flaca
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As a founding member of Desk Lamp Fetishists Anonymous, it was with great interest (read cold sweats) that I learned about the stainless steel Flaca desk lamp by Mexico's Masiosare Studio. Yes, the stainless steel is sexy, and the 6 W power consumption - courtesy of twelve LEDs - ticks the green boxes, but most exciting is the fact that the Flaca comes as a flat piece of laser-cut steel that the user then bends into shape. We at the DLFA are nuts for flat-pack tool-less assembly, you see.

Once out of the cardboard packaging, only four bends are required to complete the stand. The LEDs come with self-adhesive tape to "permanently" stick them to the stand. Post-bend, the Flaca has a footprint of 200 x 130 mm (7.9 x 5.1 inches) and stands 350 mm (13.8 in.) tall. It's built for a 110-120 V supply, drawing a current of 48 mA.

It's easy to be glib about environmentally friendly design, but this is the Flaca's real strength. Yes, LEDs are a low-energy light source, but in addition, the electronics aside, this is a lamp fashioned from a single material, meaning there's a simple supply chain and optimized manufacturing process. While stainless steel may not be the most sustainable choice, that consideration has to be offset against its durability. Add the long life-span of LEDs into the mix, and this is a lamp that, with care, should last a seriously long time.

If the quoted 50,000 hour LED lifespan is accurate (and that's a typical, perhaps even conservative figure often seen for LEDs), even if you turn the lamp on for eight hours a day, five days of the week, 48 weeks of the year, this is a lamp that will last 26 years. With more casual use, it could last a lifetime.

The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail
The Flaca's design demonstrates attention to detail

Further, the flatpack design optimizes shipping. The more boxes that can be loaded onto the truck, the fewer journeys have to be made.

If there is a fly in the ointment, it would appear to be availability. This is a non-mass produced item limited to bespoke design boutiques and museums in Mexico. The Flaca product page indicates that the product can be purchased online, but the store in question appears to be down at the time of writing. If we can track down a price, we'll let you know.

Source: Fast Co. Design.

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6 comments
6 comments
Dawar Saify
Excellent product, ideal specifications, everything is perfect, but one problem, not available.
juan.agudelo
According to this site (http://monkeyzen.com/2012/01/lampara-flaca-por-masiosare-studio), the Flaca lamp costs about USD$71 / EUR 53.
How many times can you bend (or change the bending) of the steel plate before it breaks? I am afraid not many.
Bruce H. Anderson
And it\'s adjustable...well, at least once - when you set it up. Artsy for sure, but probably overpriced and not very practical.
Eduardo Soto
I\'m a partner at masiosare studio. Thanks for this great article. About availability, just wanted to let you know that it will be available at MoMA NY stores and its online store starting on April as part of a project called Destination: Mexico
Gadgeteer
I notice it doesn\'t say anything about how much light this actually provides, a pretty critical specification for a lighting device. I\'m guessing not much. Low power consumption is worthless if it\'s also low light output. As a work of art, okay. As a usable electric appliance, probably not.
FlFan
Very cool. I hope you repost this when it is available for purchase (hope it is more reasonable than $71 too).