Core77

Things That Look Like Other Things: "Drip" Lamp by Fabio Servolo

By Ray Hu - November 8, 2011

in Lighting

11/9/2011 - Post updated below

Italian designer Fabio Servolo's latest project is a concept lamp that makes conservation as easy as flipping a light switch... or something to that effect:Drip is a table lamp that looks like and works like a tap. If fact to turn it on, you "turn on" the tap, rather than switching it on like usual. This action embodies the meaning of Drip.

This makes a 'short circuit' between two different everyday actions, turning on a tap and switching on a light; it triggers the feeling of flowing energy, in this case electricity, which is used up.

Curiously enough, I initially wasn't sure if it was intended to suggest that a leaky faucet can be as wasteful as a lamp or vice versa; it turns out that it's the latter:No one would ever leave a tap on for hours. However, it often happens that we leave a light on for a long period of time, even when it's not entirely necessary, like going from one room to another. It's necessary to raise people's awareness about wasting energy at home as it's something which could be easily avoided.

In other words, "trying to understand the flow of water is certainly easier to measure than electricity. This 'shift' aims at changing our perception of this concept."

"Drip" is made of salvaged, recyclable industrial materials—namely, brass piping—that have been cleaned, modified for functionality and coated with a stainless steel varnish. The LED diode is enclosed in a translucent plexiglass bulb—or rather, a drop—to "allow the light to diffuse better."

Servolo notes that "the on switch/knob is adjustable," which I take to mean that the knob controls a dimmer, though I think it would be neat if "Drip" featured a slow pulse or strobe setting at the lowest end of the spectrum, so to speak, in order to further emulate a tap...

UPDATE: We should have made it clear that the title was also intended to refer to another lamp that we've posted in the past, Rafael Morgan's "Drip" lamp. Apologies for the confusion.

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Thomas

13 years ago

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I think that's a good project.

Well, Rafael. Honestly, I think it's an irrelevant question. This are two completely different projects. Servolo's concept has something more. It's better developed, it has a very strong intuition. It talks about consciousness, behavior, habits, gestures. "Drip" is mainly an idea, not an industrial product.

Design is not about "who came first". It's not just shape, and I'm sure you know. It's about reasoning, intuitions, mental process, ideas!
We should give advices, opinions. Not create useless debates.
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dave

13 years ago

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wow core just keep stiring the fire - get off the computer and start designing.
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Rafael Morgan

13 years ago

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I wont even start this discussion again. It is about the third time the Core 77 posts something very similar to the Light Drop design, which, by the way, it is mine. Even the written concept is basically the same thing...

I was the one who started that infamous thread on Core 77 forum, cited above, and here it is another addiction to the post.

I case you want to check, here is the link of the Light Drop.
http://www.rafaelmorgan.net/22213/9557/works/light-drop-wall-lamp

I love you Core 77, but you should be more careful on posting these kind of things over and over again.

Rafael Morgan.
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Dan

13 years ago

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My mind's eye recalls seeing an example of this in I.D. magazine a long time ago. Wasn't it by Droog Design, or something like that?

It has since been done numerous times. Very surprised to see a design blog treating this like a new idea.
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Rob

13 years ago

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Speaking of things that look like other things....Why do people keep re-hashing this idea?
http://boards.core77.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15024&hilit=someone+stole+my+design

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Brunneous

13 years ago

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I like the idea that should make us conscious of the energy we use. It is also very strange looking yet intuitive for people who have never seen it to use.

Some suggestions at first glance:
-The cord placement is really a shame. Options include extending a pipe to the wall with the cord dropping out the bottom, or placing the power inlet at the back of the rearmost pipe. It's current placement is really distracting to me... maybe just me?

-I do love the idea of a pulsing drip sequence as you start to turn it on, where it goes steady after a certain point.

- In using this product I would want to have the brightness be really variable, like a tap. The single LED kind of makes me think of bad plumbing like at an old house, that never goes very strong...

I think that the concept is really intuitive and has an embedded lesson in conservation and our habits at home.
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