American designer Bill Curry (1927-1971) captured the zeitgeist of the 1960s and ‘70s with his iconic lamp designs. From his unique Los Angeles vantage point at the meeting point of art, design and engineering, during an era defined by the space race, pop culture and a new forward-looking optimism, he translated the wonder and delight he saw around him into simple yet intelligent ideas with clear visual narratives. Credited with developing the first ‘total look’ lamp forms – eliminating the base-bulb-shade concept and instead exploiting the bare bulb in a playful, self-contained unit – he was recognized as one of California’s leading designers by the time he died at the age of just 43.