The New Simplicity Design Exhibition showcases the work of both established and emerging international product designers, all unified by a shared belief in the pursuit of simplicity.

I first saw this exhibition advertised in one of london’s weekly design magazines and thought it would be somewhat interesting to go and see. Simple design still and always will interest me, from the celebrated Dieter Rams, Jasper Morrison and Sam Hecht to the much newer designers such as Min-Kyu Choi who designed the award winning folding plug. The folding plug was one product amongst many that featured in the exhibition. Alongside the classic simple designs, many new objects featured which exploited the latest Rapid Manufacturing technologies.

Although most of the products that featured in the exhibition were well thought out and brilliantly designed, one really caught my eye. It was Mathias Hahn’s Lantern, which is a height adjustable light made from spun aluminium, copper and glass which sort of finds its environment between a floor lamp and a pendant lamp. Its hung from the ceiling via a chord which runs through the middle of the lamp, this works by means of a clamp mechanism which allows the user to adjust to a desired height. The configuration of lamp shade and cable utilises the geometry of the production processes and puts the traditional materiality into a new aesthetic and functional context.