Besides its sustainability, these days bamboo is often utilized for its physical properties of rigidity, durability and relative lightness. But Taiwan-based industrial designer Kai-Chi Yao's Extension lamp exploits a more overlooked property of bamboo: Its flexibility.

While going for her Masters Degree in Industrial Design at Shih Chien University, Yao's Craft Design/Lighting Design course allowed her to experiment with the properties of bamboo in an exploratory way. By visiting traditional bamboo craftspeople and studying the range of effects they were able to achieve with the material—for example, slicing it into flexible strips for weaving—Yao struck upon the idea of regional slicing, allowing the material to go from rigid to flexible and back to rigid along the length of a single piece.

Wired with LED bulbs and and bound to a stainless steel cap, the Extension provides a handsome, lightweight, sustainable-material-using lamp that neatly combines hand-crafting with hi-tech. The small photo below doesn't do it justice, so click on over to the improved Coroflot to see it in its larger high-res glory.