John Pawson Reinterprets Oil Lanterns For Wästberg’s Holocene Collection

A master of minimalism, the British architect is known for his pared-back designs and consistent set of preoccupations with mass, volume, surface, proportion, junction, geometry, light, and ritual. With ‘Holocene No.4’, as the lamp has been named, Pawson takes the notion of the oil lantern, and “meticulously reduces it to its essence in terms of function, form and palette, as a container for fire, with the means to carry or suspend,” explains a statement from Wästberg. Made from stainless steel and aluminum, the piece presents a matte exterior drum and a polished interior core to best amplify the flame, which burns from a perfectly engineered canister. Just over 40 centimeters tall, the freestanding piece features a metal handle that extends from the cylindrical shade at the base of the light, with a finger-shaped indent at the top. Suitable for both indoor and outdoor settings, the architectural lantern is “scaled to feel comfortable in a range of applications, singly or in groups, on the dining table or a window sill, standing on the floor or hanging from a wall”, Wästberg adds.