Often referred to as the Hand Grenade, A110 ceiling lamp was designed by Alvar Aalto for the building of the Finnish Engineers’ Association in 1952. It mixes midcentury with minimalism (how perfect!) – two cylinders, one inside the other, with a gap so the light is reflected upwards, and a perforated brass ring at the bottom diffuses the light downwards. Made of lacquered aluminium with a polished brass ring, the lamp looks fabulous hung individually or in a group.

A new version has been added with a slight reworking and a new colour combination of white and yellow or black and red: Special Edition A110 lamp designed by Mike Meiré. He was also responsible for the special edition Stool 60 (here). The white version represents day and the black version represents night.

How perfect is that?

1 + 2    Original A110 lamp

3 + 4    Special Edition A110 lamp

Manufactured by Artek. You can get one, here. Feature image via

More found objects, here