With this design I wanted to challenge the Poul Henningsen-style that many outdoor wall lamps have today. The shape and look of the lamp changes depending on the perspective in which you see it. When the light is switched on, the stripes in the white glass shell appears. This creates contrast to the organic shape. The copper makes the light warm and welcoming.
The lamp turned on in different light surroundings
Functional drawing, technical drawing and drawings of the lamp
I started this project by taking evening walks around a lot of different neighbourhoods. I wanted to find out what kind of lighting people have chosen to put in front of their homes. In this project I was expected to find my inspiration in nature and I chose to work with blue mussels as my only inspiration. I explored the mussels by drawing and making compositions with them. I built paper shells in different sizes that mimicked mussels and continued to experiment by cutting into them. I got my final idea for my design when I put a light bulb into one of the construction of paper screens. The shell construction/paper folds was clarified (see picture).
Finding my inspiration in nature and drawing studies of mussels
Experiment with cutting into the paper shells and building with them
After my turning point, I was working on how to create the same magical transformation that I experience and putting that into a real lamp design. I folded many more shells with different cuts and techniques and drew many silhouettes to find the right shape and construction. A challenge was how I could mount my lamp to the wall in a way that would not take attention from the shape. I chose to work with glass and copper as I wanted the lamp to exude quality and that it could last for many years. I like the idea of copper changing over time and getting more and more blue/green like the colors of the mussels.
Drawings of silhouettes and lamp suspension
Samples of physical models
