Light and Lighthearted: Guau by El Último Grito for Arturo Alvarez

If you're a fan of The Jetsons aesthetic, as I am, then you're sure to love Guau, a round wall lamp with a round center that moves. Casting a glowing light, Guau floats over your space like a little moon, turning your room into a miniature planetarium. Winner of a 2010 Red Dot Award, Guau is the creation of El Último Grito (literally, the last scream), the design duo composed of Rosario Hurtado and Roberto Feo-and interestingly, Feo means ugly in Spanish, so the stars may have aligned in such a way as to make him want to create beauty.

Guau. Designed by El Último Grito for Arturo Alvarez.

Based in London and Berlin, the dynamic pair behind El Último Grito are "experimental, vanguardist and rebels but also sensitive and nearby." At the moment, their futuristic plan for an urban hanging garden (a la Babylon) above Trafalgar Square is on exhibit at London's Design Museum.

Light and Lighthearted: Guau by El Último Grito for Arturo Alvarez

Light and Lighthearted: Guau by El Último Grito for Arturo Alvarez

Available through Arturo Alvarez, the Spanish firm that distributes "emotional light," Guau fulfills the company's goal of producing "lamps with their own personality." The orb can be set alone like a sun or in groups like a constellation. Either way, Guau emits more likeableness than light, more charisma than coruscation. The floating globe is further animated by its central disc, which can be moved by hand into different positions, adjusting the cast and level of Guau's light emission. To me, the lamp also looks like an eye (notably a googly eye), though it's more benevolent god than big brother. If Guau is my overseer, then life holds promise and whimsy-in other words, the future is bright.

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