
Gijs Bakker
‘Umbrella’ Lamp Midcentury Droog Design, 1970s, ca. 1970s

The function of a lamp is to give light in a certain direction, at a spot or for a special goal. To …

Trained in industrial design, Gijs Bakker co-founded the now-famous Dutch design firms Droog in 1993 and Chi ha paura...? in 1996. Over the years, he has taught at various European art academies and worked on numerous commercial collaborations, creating everything from furniture to jewelry to public spaces. Known for privileging concept over craft and denying the market value of the materials he works in, Bakker has long disparaged the fetishization of the “authenticity” and prefers instead the potential for mass-production. “I have never been interested in hand-made things, and I am, in fact, suspicious of the charm,” Bakker says. “It is the idea that matters, and whether it’s produced by me or by a machine, nothing must detract from the idea.”


The function of a lamp is to give light in a certain direction, at a spot or for a special goal. To meet these demands Gijs Bakker (Droog design) designed the table ‘Umbrella’ lamp. The source of the light, a simple light bulb is not masked and has a central position. A circular pedestal with four vertical poles is as …

Trained in industrial design, Gijs Bakker co-founded the now-famous Dutch design firms Droog in 1993 and Chi ha paura...? in 1996. Over the years, he has taught at various European art academies and worked on numerous commercial collaborations, creating everything from furniture to jewelry to public spaces. Known for privileging concept over craft and denying the market value of the materials he works in, Bakker has long disparaged the fetishization of the “authenticity” and prefers instead the potential for mass-production. “I have never been interested in hand-made things, and I am, in fact, suspicious of the charm,” Bakker says. “It is the idea that matters, and whether it’s produced by me or by a machine, nothing must detract from the idea.”