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Milan 2011: Swedish designers TAF have created this polypropylene light in a hand knitted net for Swedish design brand Zero.

The lights, called Fisherman, are based on old fashioned glass fishing floats.

The nets are individually hand knitted in Hönö on the west coast of Sweden.

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Photographs are by Jonas Lindström.

The following is from the designers.

Fisherman

“Glass fishing floats were once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their nets afloat. (…) Many of them are still afloat in the world’s oceans, primarily the Pacific. Norway was the first country to start production and use of glass fishing floats around 1840, and they can still be found in local boathouses. Christopher Faye, a Norwegian merchant from Bergen, is credited for their invention. By the 1940s, glass had replaced wood or cork. Later the floats have been replaced by aluminum, plastic, or Styrofoam.” (Wikipedia)

Like fishermen’s glass floats, the lamp has also transferred to contemporary materials. And as a useful fishing tool has transformed into a romanticized, nigh-kitsch item used in fish restaurants, it is also time to move lamps into a new positive context. When placed indoors, with increased size and a new function as a lamp, we still recognize it, but look at it in a new way.

Rope-making is now a very rare handicraft in Sweden and it has been extremely hard to find the knowledge on how to knit this kind of round net structure. Finally, a small company, located at Hönö on the Swedish west coast, specialized in making rope- and net applications for the fishing industry, managed to do it. Each net is hand knitted using the simplest tools imaginable.

Object: Pendant- and wall lamp
Client: ZERO
Dimensions: Diameter 400 mm and 650 mm
Material: Polypropylene and Polyethylene
Light Source: 18W/Gx24q, Incandescent bulb
Design: Mattias Ståhlbom
Photo: Jonas Lindström
Date: 2011

See also:

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Rubber by TAF	Stitch lamp by TAF	Bottle by TAF

Helsinki firm Arkkitehdit NRT designed these workshop facilities for Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences in Finland.

The workshops are mostly underground, with a glazed pavilion on the ground floor designed to showcase students’ work.

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The information that follows is from the architects:

WORKSHOP KYMENLAAKSO UAS, KOUVOLA
Architect’s short description (by Teemu Tuomi)

Workshop building is a part of Kymenlaakso UAS campus.

The task was to place relatively large workshop spaces at the campus area consisting of old army barracks without disturbing the hierarchy of the built environment.

The building is planned for students studying design and restoration.

Workshops are linked to other university learning spaces so that students can use first classrooms and sketching rooms at old brick barrack and next move to workshops to realize their projects.

The building was placed partly underground in order to maintain free views to and from the old parade square that is the heart of the campus area.

The only part coming up through this ”ground level” is a class pavilion containing an exhibition space and a café.

The pavilion is meant to act as a big showroom where student work can be lifted up to the ceiling and be shown to everyone arriving to the campus area.

Since most of the spaces were placed partly underground, the natural lighting and colours was important to consider carefully.

The class pavilion works as an enormous skylight giving light to the central parts of the building.

The only facade not facing ground is facing south.

The wall is made of glass and is covered with spectrum coloured metal mesh to protect spaces against over heating.

Also almost all dividing walls inside are made of glass.

The floors and ceiling are painted light or white colours in order to reflect light as deep in the building as possible.

Some small exceptional details were also possible to devellope as the subscriber was hoping a tempting and inviting new building.

For example skylights were transformed to periscopes by adding large mirrors both out and inside of the window.

At daytime students can have a random view to upper level from workshops.

In the evening a curious passer-by can see a glimpse of the lively work spaces underneath.

See also:

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Mondragon University by Hoz Fontan Arquitectos	Casal de la Juventud de Novelda by CrystalZoo	PKU University of Law by Kokaistudios

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