Accepted as one of the most victorious works of the Staatliches Bauhaus or the Bahaus School of Walter Gropius, the German industrial designer Wilhelm Wagenfeld brought life to some of the world’s most illustrious industrial designs. And of all the styles he has made in his lifetime, perhaps none were as recognized as his Wagenfeld Lampe.

It is said that a man is greatly defined by his talent. If that were the situation, then for Wilhelm Wagenfeld it would be the Wagenfeld Lampe. Regard as by numerous Wagenfeld’s most popular design, the Wagenfeld Lampe is a mall glass and steel table lamp made up of a flat, disc-like base, a tubelike lamp stand, and an ivory-white transparent glass lampshade. Wagenfeld made the Lampe in collaboration with Karl Jacob Jucker in 1924 at the time of their journeyman years at the Staatliches Bauhaus. The lamp was said to have been made as the answer to an assignment given to Wagenfeld by one of his teachers, the Hungarian artist and Bauhaus administrator Lazlo Moholy-Nagy.

Though it is one design, the Wagenfeld is currently manufactured in two distinct versions. In the first type, the base and stand are made from industrial grade nickel-plated steel. Wagenfeld Lampes have also been made with chrome-plated steel, although the nickel-plated ones are much more wanted after and can simply be recognized through the yellowish patina the nickel gives off over time. In the second variation, on the other hand, the base and stand are finished from clear plate glass. The stand on the glass version also displays a nickel-plated steel tube in its inner core where the electrical feed line is housed, and gives the Lampe an “x-ray” look.

Recently, Technolumen, a company that concentrates in making Bauhaus designs, is the official manufacturer of the Wagenfeld Lampe.