NY DESIGN WEEK 2013 - WANTED DESIGN
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FRIEZE NEW YORK 2013
Earlier this summer, we took a look at recycling, the good ol' fashioned way, as well as a couple variations on upcycled lamps. This is precisely the obsession of Italian designer Matteo de Colle, who crafts lamps from discarded plastic bottles of every shape and size:
Opening a recycling bin for plastic reminds me of a soap opera: familiar characters, different combinations each day. In fact, most of the plastic bottles you see in a bin are very common: you are well acquainted with them from countless occasional encounters. Seeing them down there, in the dark, still beautiful and ripe with possibilities...
It certainly isn't rocket science—frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if these were the result of a school project gone wild—and some are certainly more successful than others, though credit to de Colle for conceiving some truly elegant forms.
Alternately, de Colle's project is a sort of top-down, formal approach to upcycling... in contrast to the remarkable "Liter of Light" project, in which plastic bottles are cleverly repurposed as ad hoc lighting fixtures, representing the opposite end of the DIY spectrum.
Comments
It's hard to tell, but unless those bulbs are LEDs, the designer is missing the point...
I think the point Andrew is making is, if you are going to recycle and save the planet.. then don't contradict it by using high wattage lightbulbs!
I agree to some extent. Regardless though the whole lightbulb thing is overblown green act. Lighting makes up for a very very small percentage of actual electricity use. You pretty much won`t be able to buy normal lightbulbs in a few years anyways.
I pick up bottles in front of my place, in the plastic bin. So these are truly km0 recycled lampshades with low wattage bulbs. But I do not think mine is a sustainable practice to be imitated. In fact form an environmental point of view they hold a very dubious content. I like the way these bottles make up colourful rows on supermarket shelves and soon after are hidden away, kept in secret dark cool cupboards. Their content is far more important to us than their shape, isn't it? their inside surface is never explored or brought to light. Y not trying?