This year we should be celebrating the 60th birthday of the shopping mall, that great cultural institution that first kicked off in 1956 in Edina, Minnesota, USA. Originally conceived of as a community centre where people would congregate to do their shopping out of the elements, in today’s consumer culture the mall is the centre of the universe; a veritable cathedral of trade that has largely replaced Sunday worship with Sunday shopping.

LZF is mightily happy to have played its part in the evolution of the mall, by supplying a bunch of our beautiful handmade wood lamps to the Galeria Morena in Poland.

The Galeria was closed for three years while a large scale redevelopment took place. That redevelopment included a floorspace expansion of 13,000 square metres, and the opening of an entertainment precinct with a 3D cinema.

Interior was designed by Katarzyna Jeske from Design Plus while a Warsaw-based firm Marro, that is no stranger to shopping centre projects, was responsible for remodeling the food court. The company ensured the Galeria’s position as a family friendly destination, with a playground, cosy parents’ room and children zones.

The lovely Galeria images provided by photographer Martyna Rudnicka show Miguel Herranz’s Mini Mikado’s look pretty damn spectacular in the contemporary food court. They add a touch of drama and colour, while proving the functional illumination that diners demand.

The Mini Mikados might be small in size, but they are definitely big on style. Like all of LZF’s lamps they are made from FSC plantation veneer and crafted by hand in Valencia.

Herranz based the design in his favourite musical, The Mikado, by Gilbert and Sullivan. Nowadays the Mini Mikados are considered daring, mischievous and nonconformist; a little like Herranz himself. Their obvious Asian reference to an unfolding fan, brings a touch of the old Orient to the middle of Poland.

Shoppers are already flocking to the revamped Galeria, and we kind of hope that our beautiful Mini Mikados are playing an important role in drawing them in.

Photographer Martyna Rudnicka

Written by Stephen Lacey