Flamingo Mini: Deconstruction as exploration

Whether natural or artificial, light is intrinsic to our collective and individual wellbeing. To visually deconstruct light -its qualities, temperature and direction- is to better understand it. Designed by Antoni Arola, Flamingo Mini dismantles the traditional structure of a light fixture, exposing multiple components as a means of providing a new spatial experience with alternative interpretations.

Emerging as a design movement in the late 1980s, Deconstruction means showing how something is constructed while still existing as a form of art or architecture. It involves experimenting, not just with mechanism and materials, but with form and function, introducing a new way of interacting with an object in order to explore our emotional and rational response.

Flamingo Mini translates a complex lighting system into an expression of simple elegance. By separating the light source from the shade, we experience a more attenuated light, intimate and elevated, as well as a unique visual lightness, as if the fixture hovers weightlessly overhead.

“The challenge: to project light onto the shade rather than surrounding the light source. The result: an ethereal effect where the lamp and its lighting appear deconstructed.”

Antoni Arola

The LED light sources are placed in different positions depending on the desired lighting effect. They can face upwards or downwards, projecting light onto various shades manufactured from translucent thermoplastic. The gradations of light created by multiple layers of shades results in a restorative atmosphere with a soothing emotional response.

A form of criticism first used by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1970s, Deconstruction asserts that there is not one single intrinsic meaning to be found in a work, but rather many, and often these can be conflicting. In this way, Flamingo Mini can be interpreted as a play of contrasts: technical complexity meets visual simplicity; horizontal planes of light dissect invisible vertical cables; gradations of diffuse light complement direct points of light.

“It’s surprising to see the different illuminated disks separated from the light source. That allows for many gradations and effects”

Antoni Arola

Dismantling a product into independent components allows for greater versatility. In the case of Flamingo Mini, the entire composition is threaded through a cable which becomes an invisible yet integral part of the silhouette, allowing for the various elements to be positioned as desired.

This innate versatility allows the designer to adapt the lamp to the proportions of any space, creating unique configurations depending on the light required.