Light Shade Shade

Light Shade Shade (2004)
Designer: Jurgen Bey for Droog Design
Manufacturer: Moooi
MSRPs (approximate)
$1300 (as shown) $1570 (armed version)
Shades alone: $610 & $875

Awarded or nominated for nearly every accolade presented to a light fixture, including a coveted spot on the Best of 2004 by Elle Decoration UK, the Light Shade Shade embodies much of what has made Droog Design a leader in contemporary design. Craft, always important to Droog, is represented by the traditional, ornate chandelier; the twist, obviously, being the transparent smoke shade. Does the shade subvert what might be considered the excess of the fixture by hiding it? Or does it celebrate it by protecting it? Or maybe it just makes it less bright? Whatever its meaning, the combination creates an element of mystery, not to mention humor, that wouldn't exist if the pieces were apart.