A Designer Cooperates With Aboriginal Craftspeople to Create Eco-Friendly Lamp Shades

In reaction to this plastic waste issue in the Colombian Amazon, Spanish designer Alvaro Catalán de Ocón began the PET Lamp Project in 2011–a layout venture with the intention to reuse PET plastic bottles. Over the previous five years, the eco-conscious designer has worked together with traditional craft communities from throughout the world–including Colombia, Chile, Japan, and Ethiopia–to turn plastic waste into a growing collection of beautiful, handmade PET Lamps.

As with his previous projects alongside traditional craftspeople, Catalán de Ocón came to Bula’Bula Arts Centre in Ramingining with no predetermined plan for the way the lamps would look. Rather, he gave liberty to the talented weavers who began to generate huge structures inspired by traditional Yolngu mats. Made from naturally colored pandanus fibers, the resulting suspension lamps with feature fringes include the PET plastic bottles since the center points of their circular woven designs.

The vivid, sunshine hues were created from boiling natural ingredients and pigments–such as ash and eucalyptus bark– then leaving the dyed leaves to dry from the sun. Every single mat was then woven together into two bigger lampshades, mirroring the bond between individuals of the same clan. Catalán de Ocón explains, “The two masterpieces turn into a complex, harmonious merge between Aboriginal kinships, weaving technique, topographic elements, and design.”

You can also find out more about the job via the PET Lamp Site.

In collaboration with traditional craftspeople from all over the planet, the PET Lamp Project was set by designer Alvaro Catalán de Ocón.

h/t Colossal

Australian Wildlife Lamp – Roo Light

A Kickstarter project, Roo Light was inspired by Australia’s distinct wildlife, and it aims to offer a refreshing and personable change to the monotony of trending minimalist products. 3D printing allows us to produce a special form that is partially wireframe to allow LED lighting to diffuse onto any surface. Kito Studios was inspired by an impromptu trip to China’s lighting manufacturing powerhouse Guzhen, where its products make up 60% of China’s market. We witnessed countless mass-produced clones in traditional factories and saw potential in harnessing innovative manufacturing technologies to bring customized products to the average customer.

 

Romanian Designer Created Concrete Lamp That Allows User Customize it with A Stone

Rock comes with all the Slash concrete lamp by Bucharest designer Dragos Motica. Therefore, the user can crush the shade to reveal the reinforcing steel net.

Unpacking further shows the lamp itself, which Dragos Motica made from birch plywood, an LED bulb plus a reinforced concrete color encased in concrete. The consumer has the choice to leave the lamp as they find it, or use the rock to smash balls of the cement to expose the wire mesh and light bulb inside.

“By dividing the lamp you are becoming the designer of a unique thing,” says Motica. “By leaving it unbroken, you opt for the serialized object because you like it because it is. Thus you are taking a very subjective decision. The lamp is suspended from the ceiling by a textured cord, attached to a carabiner and bolt to enable its height to be adjusted. “The materials are inspired by industrial facilities, construction sites, rope climbing, and spool for high voltage wires. I aimed to use quite common and affordable materials. By doing so, I wonder the final product’s value, its meaning to the consumer. Another reason for using concrete was the aesthetic of refined light passing through busted fortified concrete,” he added.

The lampshade is generated by pouring concrete into a silicone mold and above the cable net. A cork core cut on a computer numerically controlled (CNC) device could be inserted into the concrete form to protect the light bulb when the concrete is crushed.