Bagdad Portable Lamp

Designed in 1954, the Bagdad Lamp embodied the quintessential characteristics of Mathieu Matégot’s approach to lighting design: playful expression, signature material, and space-age aesthetic. Now, 70 years later, GUBI has reimagined the iconic lamp as a new portable version that brings the Hungarian designer’s offbeat style and technical brilliance to both indoor and outdoor settings.

GUBI’s new, portable edition of the lamp scales the Bagdad down to half the size of the 1954 table lamp. The smaller size of the ‘tail’ enables it to be used as a handle, making it easier to move the lamp around and outside the home – to whichever dark corner might benefit from its atmospheric glow. Achieving the geometry and balance of the shade and ensuring the weld optimizes the distribution of light require a high degree of precision. Similar ingenuity is needed to install the small brass ball at the top of the lamp.

Made with Matégot’s signature ‘rigitulle’ technique, whereby sheet metal is folded and perforated to create a lace-like effect – the Bagdad Lamp was inspired by the lanterns of the Middle East, hence its name. Matégot gave this classic style a distinctly futurist makeover, shaping a rigitulle sheet into an icosahedron – a geometric shape with 20 triangular sides – with an exaggerated pyramidal ‘tail’. As a result, the Bagdad resembles a cubist sculpture of a comet.

Originally designed in 1954, the Bagdad Lamp is a brilliantly offbeat showcase of Mathieu Matégot’s material affinity with perforated metal. A multifaceted, cubist construction with a comet-like tail, the Bagdad’s sculptural design has proven timeless in its playful uniqueness. The new edition scales down the size by half and adds a further element of versatility by making it portable. Fitted with a touch-activated dimmer with three levels of brightness, and available in three colors – Black, White, and International Orange – the Bagdad represents a unique addition to GUBI’s Matégot portfolio, and the ever-growing collection of rechargeable lamps without limits.