New generation Bilboquet
Around East London with Bilboquet and Friends
Philippe Malouin describes Bilboquet as a lamp for millennials and Gen Z, a flexible illumination tool that adapts to the multilayered approach to the home that is defining his generation (and those that come after). Malouin himself has been testing the table lamp –whose head connects to the body via a sleek magnetic sphere, allowing it to be used in a plethora of different configurations– at his studio and with his friends across East London. We followed him in his urban wandering as he packed Bilboquet in his backpack and cycled to see the lamp in action at the homes of his creative friends. With Malouin, we talked about flexibility in domestic design, creative communities and how the experimental approach he has been fostering throughout his career has led to the design of Bilboquet.
Interview by Rosa Bertoli, photography by Pablo Di Prima
The lamp consists of two colored cylinders connected by a magnetic sphere that acts as a joint and allows the upper cylinder to rotate, directing the flow of light. All the elements that compose it are inspired by the bilboquet, a game born in France in the 16th century, to which the Malouin lamp owes its name.
“Simple in appearance but full of personality, Bilboquet is an adjustable table lamp that allows you to direct light in a playful yet precise manner. Taking cues from magnetic ball joints, Bilboquet offers a full range of movement for a variety of functions. Whether used as a task light on a desk, or to provide a soft glow against a wall, or directed at a good book, Bilboquet shines light where it is needed.”
Philippe Malouin
Bilboquet is a lamp imagined to move and adapt to many living environments. How did you come up with the concept?
PM: I wanted the light to do more than one thing, because people have fewer things today, and move a lot, so your needs change within the home, so Bilboquet is not static. I'm obsessed with Achille Castiglioni, all his lamps always did more than one thing: my favourite light and the first Flos lamp I've ever had is the Parentesi. I always loved the fact that the Parentesi hangs on a string, and you can bounce the light off a white wall or the ceiling, or straight on to the subject at hand. And you create three fully different light moods. And to me, that was always the most important thing. So when I made a small table light, I wanted to use the elements that I admired in Castiglioni's work.
The final result feels very intuitive.
PM: My lamp is not at all tech: It has a light bulb, a switch, you turn it around, and that's it. It's so low tech that you could wonder, ʻWas it designed now? Or was it designed 40 years ago?ʼ And that is exactly what I wanted; I wanted everything to be super obvious.
Future-proof design
Bilboquet complies with the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) protocol under the European Community’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED). This certification is achieved by demonstrating the sustainability of products created from biomass as a way to replace plastic from fossil fuels.
The lamp features a super-compact packaging. Shipping and storage volumes are reduced to a minimum as the product is decomposed within the packaging, offering users a simple and fun assembly experience.
