Overview

A sculptural hanging lamp designed with a soft, organic form using wire structure and lace panels. The lamp is lightweight, airy, and decorative, intended to light a room while bringing botanical softness into interior space.

Context: Form 3100 — Spring 2024
Final Project
Designed and fabricated as part of an explorative course in form, lighting, and material behavior.

Goal: Create a hanging lamp at least 8 inches tall, built from wire and lace, designed to illuminate a room with soft, diffused light.

Tools used: wire, pliers, wire cutters, lace fabric, bulb + socket hardware, measuring tools, sketching materials, sketch up

Timeline: 2½ weeks (April 23–30, 2024)

Process

1. Sketching & References

Early drawings explored:

Organic leaf-like shapes
Curved wire “veins”
Lace panels suspended between structural wires

2. Form Development

Created supporting wire arches to define the lamp’s silhouette:

Central vertical supports
Wire leaves branching outward
Lace leaf components sewn or tensioned into place

3. Perspective Modeling

Multiple views documented the structure:

Front, back, side
Top and bottom views
Isometric renderings

4. Assembly

Wire frame shaped and connected
Lace cut into botanical leaf shapes
Lace attached to wire supports
Lightbulb mounted in central cavity

Outcome

A 353mm tall sculptural lamp combining botanical aesthetics with delicate lace diffusion.

The lamp casts a patterned, organic light effect and fulfills the project’s functional requirements.

What I Learned

How to design structurally with thin materials
How fabric and wire interact under tension
How to use lace as a light diffuser
Translating organic themes into 3D structure

Reflection

This project challenged me to balance fragility and support, learning how soft materials can create expressive, functional lighting.

Personal Insight

Working with lace as a form-defining element revealed how softness can create strong emotional presence in a space.

Flower lamp