Designed with Nicola Jackson, this flat pack, laser cut outdoor ambient lamp, uses cheap solar garden lamps. The shape references traditional chandeliers but takes its inspiration from flora found in the garden. It can be hung as a chandelier, or placed on a surface as a chandelier, uses solar power, and turns on automatically when there is insufficient light.
The design was originally hand drawn, as the aim was to instill the notion of the human hand with some imperfection, rather than producing something perfect in a software program. The hand drawing was then traced in Illustrator to tighten it up, and make it possible to laser cut. At this stage we ran some test prototypes on the laser cutter to observe tolerances, size, scale and proportion in relation to the garden lamps.
The garden lamps were sourced from 'The Warehouse'. This is a very popular superstore within New Zealand, selling much at rock bottom prices. Ethically, I am adverse to purchasing anything at this establishment, but another intention of the project was to combine the easily accessible and inexpensive, with something decorative, and of high design value. The lamps cost around $4.50 (£2.00 approx) and include a rechargeable battery, working on a light sensor.
The Solar Chandelabra amalgamates beautiful and ugly elements, whilst exploring the combination of cheap technical objects with a design file that can be personalised and manufactured locally through Ponoko.
You can download the .SVG file of the Solar Chandelabra from Ponoko for the nominal fee of $1. It is available under a creative commons licence, so you can alter the file to fit a similar light source, from a store where ever you live and make a version for yourself.
Please, send us images, should you do so.
