Glamtiques: Grashoppa Floor Lamp

Born in Sweden in 1906, Greta Magnusson Grossman helped revolutionize mid-20th century furniture, interior design and architecture. She played a major role in bringing European modernism and other trends to North America following World War II. After attending the prestigious Stockholm Art Institution in Konstfack and Royal Academy of Technology, she founded a successful design studio, called Studio. She was the first woman to win the Furniture Design Award from the Swedish Society of Industrial Design in 1933.

As war swept Europe in 1940, she and her husband decided to relocate to Los Angeles, California. Grossman opened her second studio on Rodeo Drive, attracting celebrity Hollywood clients with her modern Scandinavian furniture and lighting. She also started working in architecture at this time, incorporating principles of modern European design to imagine a distinctively southern California style.

Designed in 1947, the Grashoppa Floor Lamp immediately calls to mind the insect after which it is named. Tilted backwards on a tripod stand, the lamp almost looks alive. Made of powder coated steel, its extended conical shade can be rotated to shine light in specific areas. Grashoppa's organic design brought levity to the often serious and stark creations that dominated the modernist aesthetic.

Despite her huge impact in the 1940s and 1950s, Grossman all but disappeared from the design scene in the 1960s. Thankfully, Gubi relaunched several of the trailblazing designer's most beloved creations in 2011, including the Grashoppa Floor Lamp and the rest of the collection, the Grashoppa Table Lamp and Grashoppa Pendant.