The "Phase" Lamp Mirrors the Moon's Cycles in Real-Time

The majority of us are guilty of picking up our phones and losing an unfathomable amount of time to scrolling. Our lives are filled with constant distractions, and as a result, hours pass without us even knowing.

But the Phase lamp, designed by London studio Relative Distance, aims to reconnect us to that notion, through mirroring the moon’s orbit around earth in real time.

“Our connection with the moon is deeper than we can possibly know,” says the studio’s co-founder Roland Ellis. “Phase allows you to have a relationship with something that is a monumental part of our existence. It creates a sense of calm and connection and it’s a piece we want people to experience living with.”

The process of creating Phase began four years ago. The image it portrays of the moon is actually one released by NASA in 2014, which mosaics 15,000 wide angle photographs of its close side.

This image is then applied to a smoked glass, which is backed by a case that is crafted from mineral composite. All of the electronic components are stripped back in order to ensure the lamp can be as slender as possible. Its three settings offer different options: synchronised with the moon, fully illuminated and a short lunar animation. The date, time and brightness are set with three buttons, which sit flush within the casing.

“We have spent 4 years working with materials and lighting to perfect the technology and design the electronics and power distribution to make the piece appear impossibly thin,” Dev Joshi says. “This is part of our design philosophy, to minimise the form of the object to maximise the impact. It creates a suspension of disbelief to experience such a realistic rendition of the moon hung on a wall inside.”

The Phase lamp will be on show during this year’s London Design Festival, which kicks off on September 14th. Each is handmade in Relative Distance’s London studio Phase, and is available at diameters of 60cm and 120cm.