In Love With The Sonneman Quattro

We’ve reviewed our share of LED task lamps but our latest procurement, the Sonneman Quattro, evokes a kind of playful spirit normally reserved for Luxo, the Pixar Lamp. The lamp is immaculately engineered. The aforementioned playful spirit comes from the retangular arm that articulates at multiple points. It freely rotates 90º at the base with two additional pivot points across the arm. Devoid of any discernable switches, the lamp is switched on by a feather’s touch above the LED plate. Tapping it multiple times cycles through 3 brightness settings.

I’m not at all surprised by the fit and finish. Designed by Robert Sonneman, a name many of you design enthusiasts will be familiar with, a force in lighting design for over 40 years. It’s the attention to detail that really struck me. For example, the lighting elements consists of a flat LED plate that throws an even warm light. Most other lamps use an array of LEDs. Not to say one is better than the other, it’s just different and that’s why I like the Quattro.

The Quattro is available in bright satin aluminum, white, black and a red/yellow/black combination which is the one I received. It’s particularly special because the rectilinear forms and coloring serves up Mondrian and Rietveld – true modernists. The lamp retails for $575 with an estimated lamp life of 50,000 hours.

Designer: Robert Sonneman and Peter Polick