BAGDAD PORTABLE LAMP
BY MATHIEU MATÉGOT
A CLASSIC REINVENTED
Designed in 1954, the Bagdad Lamp embodied the quintessential characteristics of Mathieu Matégot’s approach to lighting design: playful expression, signature material, and space-age aesthetic. Now, 70 years later, GUBI has reimagined the iconic lamp as a new portable version that brings the Hungarian designer’s offbeat style and technical brilliance to both indoor and outdoor settings.
MOVE THE GLOW AROUND
GUBI’s new, portable edition of the lamp scales the Bagdad down to half the size of the 1954 table lamp. The smaller size of the ‘tail’ enables it to be used as a handle, making it easier to move the lamp around and outside the home – to whichever dark corner might benefit from its atmospheric glow.
Achieving the geometry and balance of the shade and ensuring the weld optimizes the distribution of light require a high degree of precision. Similar ingenuity is needed to install the small brass ball at the top of the lamp.
SIGNATURE RIGITULLE
Made with Matégot’s signature ‘rigitulle’ technique, whereby sheet metal is folded and perforated to create a lace-like effect – the Bagdad Lamp was inspired by the lanterns of the Middle East, hence its name. Matégot gave this classic style a distinctly futurist makeover, shaping a rigitulle sheet into an icosahedron – a geometric shape with 20 triangular sides – with an exaggerated pyramidal ‘tail’. As a result, the Bagdad resembles a cubist sculpture of a comet.
DISCOVER BAGDAD COLLECTION
AMBIENT PLAY OF LIGHT
The angles and openings in the transparent metal shade mean that the Bagdad Portable Lamp casts and attractive, ambient play of light that creates visual interest in whatever indoor and outdoor space it is placed in, and results in an atmospheric shadow effect even when switched off.
TOUCH-ACTIVATED
The small brass ball at the top of the lamp was solely decorative in Matégot’s design, but now functions as a touch-activated dimmer mechanism in the portable edition. The lamp can be charged to full capacity in three hours, providing eight hours of light at full intensity, 15 hours at half, and 50 hours at 10% – enough to last throughout the longest of evenings outdoors.
READY FOR THE SUN
The colored powder coating is UV-resistant, which, coupled with protection to electrical components, means that the lamp is certified for use outdoors, if kept dry. Like GUBI’s other portable lamps it is designed to be kept and charged indoors.
MATHIEU MATÉGOT
Mathieu Matégot (1910–2001) was a versatile, independent and self-taught designer, architect and artist. Born in Hungary, he first discovered the potential of metal while working in a mechanical accessories plant as a prisoner of war. In 1931, after finishing his studies at Budapest's School of Art and Architecture, he settled
Although Matégot used materials such as rattan and glass, he is best known for developing his own ground-breaking material – Rigitulle, which he made from perforated sheet metal. Like fabric, this could be bent, folded, and shaped, giving his designs transparency, weightlessness, and an enduring modernity.