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An Elegant Lamp, Inflated Using Heat and a Bike Pump

When the form of an object drops hints as to how it's made

By Allison Fonder - October 9, 2015

in Lighting

In many cases, furniture and products are simply presented in shiny, spotless and finished form, void of any context. On less frequent occasions, a designer's process is voiced through the actual form of the object; in these instances not only does the form shed light on how something was made, but it also gives an indication of the hand who made it. Some of my favorite examples of this include the experimental wax joined chair designed by Jerszy Seymour, or Max Lamb's nanocrystalline copper furniture created using electro forming.

Ruben der Kinderen's blown-glass lamp

The "BLOW-lamp," designed by Ruben der Kinderen, recently sparked my interest with its inventiveness and process transparency. The lamps are made by manually injecting hot air into PET tubes, which are then inflated like balloon animals using a tool almost identical to a conventional bike pump. The video that accompanies the photographs on his site absolutely serves to enhance the overall intrigue of the object. Check out the quick inflation process here:

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So sure, the process of how the lamp is made may serve as a gimmick to purchase—but the object also manages to stand apart from its process, and can be admired simply for its delicate and minimal form.

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Bastian Lee

9 years ago

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it's a ball pump by the way

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Allison Fonder

9 years ago

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Matt, thank you so much for catching this material mixup! We're going to go ahead and correct the error.

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matt d

9 years ago

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The PET-bottle is taken as an example and its automated production process is re-imagined into a manual one. This allows the creation of new and unique products as well as giving an insight into the production process. Heating a Pre-form (PET tube) and by manually injecting air by pumping, a modern glassblowing is achieved from which these vases are a first design. (2013)

no glass here

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