Miguel Milá

MIGUEL MILÁ (Barcelona, 1931- Bilbao, 2024) for Tramo.
Floor lamp TMC (nº28), 60s.
Chromed and lacquered metal, methacrylate lampshade.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use.
Measurements: 169 x 31 x 31 cm.

The TMC (Tramo Móvil Cromada) is undoubtedly the most iconic design of the fruitful career of Miguel Milá. Its history begins in 1956 with the design of a variable-height lamp for the interior design project of his aunt Nuria Sagnier's studio, and it has undergone numerous revisions and modifications over more than fifty years. The first definitive design to be marketed was in 1960, produced by the publishing company Tramo (Trabajos molestos), a company founded by Milá himself. The TMC is an ingenious floor lamp design that allows the height of the light to be chosen by means of a handle with seven anchor points, which acts both as a support for the circular white methacrylate shade and as a regulation system through the chromed shaft, the latter attached to a second structural half with four black-painted iron blades that form the base. An exercise of intelligent and balanced design that endows the TMC with simplicity and functional efficiency.

When no one in Spain knew what it meant to be a designer, despite the fact that, as we all know now, any object is designed (with or without a signature behind it), Miguel Milá was already one, that is, he tried to make everyday objects make our lives easier and happier, which are the basis of all innovation. To innovate is to set in motion an imaginative and productive chain: to imagine new forms and new uses and to make it possible, through craftsmanship and industry, to bring them to fruition, choosing the right materials and techniques. He did it from the beginning, that's why he is a master. Many of his pieces were born predestined to become iconic, such as the Cesta (1962), TMM and TMC (1961) lamps.