Architecture and interior design thread

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  • I wrote the last post on my laptop, but I'll dig it out later.

  • They’re proper nice though. We have a few and though they were pricey I don’t regret buying them. Yet to see a paper lantern as nice, to me they’re worth the extra

  • What's the argument, that someone else might make?

  • Not sure if I understand your question but I assume the point Chris is getting at is that the copies are mass produced, affordable pieces of furniture for the masses. Herman Miller 'originals' are now priced beyond insanity and reserved for, quite frankly, the wealthy.

  • Meh, I’ve lived in the same place for over 30 years so I don’t have to buy that kind of stuff that often. Closer to £100 for our model.

  • True that - they are very robust though, our table lamp has been knocked over many times and isn’t any worse for wear.
    And to reiterate, I think they look better than many others that I’ve seen.

  • Given the utterly insane pricing of lamps nowadays, I’m very surprised how reasonable the Noguchi lamps are on his site. $150-200 is a bargain considering there’s a name attached to them.

  • That’s my argument - for a designer brand they’re actually attainable for someone like me.

  • Yeah I'm not disputing at all that they're lovely and worth it - especially if you want anything other than 'round', just there's a difference to me between "cheap" and "attainable".

  • The idea behind the pieces in the first place was to create good, affordable furniture that most people could afford. A democratisation of design if you like.

    Now though, when they’ve been trendy for ages the producers have increased prices beyond what even well off people can afford.

  • Explained better than I could to be honest.
    Everything the Eames’ did was meant to be mass produced (using the latest tech) and therefore affordable, I think I even read somewhere that they were into the copies because they were aligned with that concept.

  • £200 for a paper lampshade is laughable especially when their is no real ownership on the design.

    But I guess this is all just personal opinion. I’d save 175 quid and get a Hay one which I’d assume is slightly better quality than ikea ones.

  • I’ve lived in the same place for over 30 years

    OK boomer

    ;)

  • Cheers!
    I think I like it.
    And I think it will look genuine.

  • NP.

    The description also says you can use a filament bulb.

    So they've got you covered there 👍

  • I was talking about lamps specifically, as in: https://shop.noguchi.org/products/akari-1a

    Which is in line with bog standard lamps in my experience. But yeah, moving on...

  • We have a Noguchi in the bedroom. I don’t often look at it closely, but when I stand on the bed and gaze at it in admiration it’s easy to see why it’s more expensive, and worth it in my opinion. They’re really craft objects, beautifully made and clearly assembled with great care. If I can afford it, I’m happy to pay for that. My livelihood is based on it.

  • I'm going out myself as a basic bitch. But lamps seem like one of those items that you can easily buy good quality items for relatively little.

    Admittedly our last ones were 70s BHS from a bootsale - which definitely were cheap at the time. But the last nice one we bought was from JL in the sale for £30ish and all the materials, pivots, cord, etc. were high quality...

    ...but I guess that applies to lots of designer products. And at least (for now) designer furniture is a good investment. Although that can always flip - just look at the difference in price between handcrafted Georgian furniture made by skilled craftsmen out of premium wood vs what is essentially mass production techniques from relatively cheap materials.

  • Oh yeah, they are ok I guess, but yeah, potato potato or whatever. You do you.

  • It’s my wife’s birthday coming up and she’s been talking a lot about her dream lamp. Snoopy something. I googled it thinking easy present win then saw it was 7 bills. Might still do it though..

  • nice lamps tbf

  • But lamps seem like one of those items that you can easily buy good quality items for relatively little.

    You would think so, but £30 gets you something pretty poorly made and designed in my experience. I think this is less representative of 'poor lampshade design and manufacturing' and more post-2008 economics. You have to spend £200 now to get a lamp that would have cost you £30 in 2006 or something.

  • Thinking more about the paper lampshades... the John Lewis / ikea round paper lampshades are not really Noguchi copies, they are just what they are and you can find nameless versions all over E/SE Asia.

    I think Noguchi lamps are really nice and they are on my wishlist, I might even get one eventually. Agree with @dbr that you're paying for the craftsmanship as much as the design (or name) which is true even if you get a round one. I kind of want one of the funny lopsided little creatures. I also made my own versions as a kid before I'd ever heard of Noguchi, so might try that again too.

    (But I still don't think they're cheap)

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Architecture and interior design thread

Posted by Avatar for coppiThat @coppiThat

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