Believe it or not, design was once a secondary pursuit for Tokyo-born, New England-bred Jonah Takagi of D.C.’s Atelier Takagi. In between graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2002 and founding the aforementioned studio in 2005, Takagi mostly spent his time playing bass guitar as an impromptu member of several indie bands, including Garland of Hours, which he still plays for. The penchant for the eclectic shows in his work.

Spun Table Lamp. Designed by Jonah Takagi.

He conceived of his company as “an outlet for an over active imagination… a multi-disciplinary design studio and workshop producing objects that require closer examination, that inspire and inform and re-contextualize our surroundings.” That description could only come from someone invested in the new—whether that signifies updating a revered aesthetic, as in the American Gothic Table; or a new spin on a contemporary look, as in today’s Spun Table Lamp.

The website for Atelier Takagi describes the piece in minimalist fashion: “Bases and shades and cords. Aluminum, Steel, Enamel.” Though the spare syntax may smack slightly of pretense (or of the self-referential style of the inimitable J. Peterman), the characterization is still spot on, since the lamp’s aesthetic is stark and somewhat “deconstructed.” But the emphasis on the individual components has a second meaning (the previously referenced “new spin”), because this is a modular lamp of sorts, at least in its pre-assembled incarnation. The shade is available in three materials (polished aluminum, brass, or matte white lacquer); the base offers three color choices (farm green, safety yellow, or blood orange); and the cord comes in blue, red and grey.

This last feature alone merits special mention, imparting a decorative touch that takes the edge off the familiar spindly black appendage, but the kicker is the sheer quantity of choices the concept offers. If I remember just a smidge of my 10th. Grade Algebra, the 3 X 3 formulation results in, essentially, 27 different lamps, each with a signature Takagi aesthetic, but each with a style all their own.

Via Designboom.