Seaweed Lamp 01
The Womb
How are new vernacular crafts born? Growing up, vernacular crafts always felt like centuries old traditions that had been fully developed and therefore could only be preserved. Giant Kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is a keystone species that is abundantly found across the Las Californias coastal bioregion. Historically, it's been overlooked and left to decompose. By utilizing novel fabrication and computational design tools, a lamp was created that shows the potential this blossoming craft has to offer. The form was inspired by the cellular structure of Giant Kelp and is meant to symbolize a womb that is about to give birth to a new vernacular.
Work technical description
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Process
To make the lamp only one material was utilized: seaweed (specifically Giant Kelp). All seaweed was collected from the ocean andbeaches found within 3 km from the studio where the lamp was built. After seaweed is collected, it is separated into its three maincomponents: blade, stipe and bladder). The blades are converted into the sheets with specific translucency and flexibility using aheat press, the stipes are dried and used to create the structural elements such as internal ribs and rope. The bladders as well as allother seaweed waste generated are used to make the binder paste.Work technical description
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