Santa & Cole TMM

By Miguel Mila

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This is perhaps the most highly acclaimed piece from one of Spain’s leading pioneering masters of industrial design. This lamp was part of Miguel Milá’s first collection for TRAMO, the company he founded to produce his own work in post-war Spain. He dabbled in a profession that he would later go on to master, that of a pre-industrial designer, seeking convenient solutions with the technology available. Milá’s words, like his pieces, have an incredible depth that lies beneath their simplicity. TMM is the more laid-back version of the TM family, and features a wooden shaft.

In an exquisite demonstration of formal serenity and functional efficiency, Miguel Milá brilliantly separated the three basic components of any lamp: the structure, the electrical components and the shade, that are easily assembled and maintained throughout its very long life. And becomes ever more beautiful with time.

A cross-shaped base supports a square shaft that becomes circular in the middle, allowing the shade to be moved up and down. The shade’s height is adjustable via a rubber band stopper. A genuine lesson in intelligence and good taste, making minimal use of components. This was Miguel Milá’s first product that Santa & Cole re-released in 1986, 25 years after its creation. It comes in a range of five different woods for the structure and two shade colours, white or beige.