Header: Andrew Longo
Some everyday objects have been around for centuries, and their role hasn’t been much questioned since they first appeared. Creativity seems close to unable to give them a new life since we tend to be so immersed in their initial utility, it becomes hard to think about which other uses they can have.
Blanca Codina Bernat, the founder of design studio Blanca CB, managed to bypass this “glitch” by aiming to explore how existing forms can be employed for different functions. If an object can be more than purely functional, then one of the objectives of design is to create conversations and interactions surrounding the use of space and materials.
Giving a new life to objects we are used to seeing serving a specific function is, therefore, a door into a brand new dialogue that helps create even more functions as our creativity unleashes itself.
The Faucet Lamp
Blanca Codina Bernat was able to give a new life to an object we are used to seeing in gardens, kitchens, and bathrooms but probably never stopped to think about how we could reuse it: a faucet. The Faucet Lamp, as the name suggests, pours light instead of water while maintaining the same form as the object we all know and can’t live without.
What is interesting about this creative adaptation is that the object moves from the conventional room into a completely different one. It is interesting to think that, perhaps, a living room would have never seen a showerhead shift from its original function. In the case of the Faucet Lamp, it can be placed in a bedroom, in a living room, or anywhere else—the options are limitless. The lamp was designed by Blanca Codina Bernat and developed by Souper Studio, a design studio Blanca co-founded with three other partners based in NYC.
Imagine, therefore, a home where a stove is a record player, a bathtub is a crib, and a piano is a fridge. Well, perhaps we don’t have to go this far, but it is certainly a fun conversation to have.
Taking from the common sanitary feature of touching a faucet to see water pour out, Blanca Codina Bernat’s lamp only requires a touch on any part of its body to turn on. The body is made out of aluminium and is available in two colours, silver and blue, which gives buyers the control to decide whether they want a lamp that completely looks like a faucet or a more eclectic object.
An electric cable connected to the base of the lamp gives out the object’s new identity, making its new life noticeable even when the light is turned off. When one enters a living room and sees a faucet next to a couch, the desired reaction isn’t disbelief but curiosity. The desired follow-up question isn’t “Are you out of your mind?” but “What else do you have around the house?”
Sustainability Approach
The lamp is made out of aluminium, a versatile material that not only reduces the company’s carbon footprint during transportation due to being lightweight but can also be completely recycled.