SCHLIEPHACKE/ SSYMMANK: AVANTGARDE. IN THEIR DAY/ IHRER ZEIT

The standard lamps "Schliephacke" and "Ssymmank" became well-known as favourite designs within the Berlin intellectual scene. Today, the two lamps dating from the late 1950s are renowned as classics of their day. With a crown made of six "leaves" of brightly coloured nylon, the ultra-modern "Ssymmank" - based on a design by Hans Scharoun and developed for serial production by his assistant Günter Ssymmank - was even a sensation for the fifties. The organic "Scharoun-Lamp" has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York since the beginning of the eighties. The minimalist design of the multi-functional "Schliephacke", by the architect Fridtjof Schliephacke, clearly adopts the stylistic traditions of the Bauhaus. Both lamps, with their quite contrary starting points, are key examples illustrating the debate on Functionalism that raged in Germany during post- war reconstruction, and they are still regarded as icons of Berlin design today.This book presents the development of the two collector's pieces within the context of that debate, "illuminated" by numerous illustrations.