Styles, colours and forms come and go in the worlds of fashion and design. Just look at the trend to use copper and cognac-hued leather. And another trend that has been around for some years is origami like folded paper/plastic lampshades.
These ingenious folded lampshades range from small to quite big ones. After some looking around the net I found several that are made out of recycled paper. And of course I was especially looking for upcycled versions.
Origami skills used for upcycling
And that reminded me of something I’de seen somewhere. And that somewhere was at that wonderful upcycle site called Alt trifft Neu [translated: Old meets New]. This is a blog run by Stefanie, living in Berlin | Germany. Alt trifft Neu is a very creative blog, according to Stefanie: ‘information, ideas and suggestions about the topic of Upcycling, DIY and what makes the world even more colorful and beautiful, but also critically challenged …’.
The design is an Origami Lampshade from an Old World Map. It started out as an experiment inspired by some great sites on the internet. She came up with the idea of folding an origami pendant lamp out of an old map she had once received from her sister. She never found a suitable place to hang it. So it was still laying in a corner. When she moved to a new place to live she saw the world map and an idea was born.
At some point during the project Stefanie didn’t believe she would succeed. The Origami folding technique can require quite a bit of skill. But luckily she didn’t stop and ended up with an amazing and gorgeous pendant lamp. And not only did she create that nice and friendly piece of upcycle design lighting, she also made a small tutorial.
Stefanie:
“UPCYCLING IS FOR ME AN ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY IDEA WITH THE AIM OF PRODUCING NO GARBAGE AND GIVING OBJECTS AND MATERIALS BY CREATIVITY A SECOND LIFE, A PROLONGED PERIOD OF USE. EACH PRODUCT IS INTENDED TO CONVEY A MESSAGE TO OUR DISPOSABLE SOCIETY.”
Photos © Alt trifft Neu
The tutorial [view site in Chrome browser for translation] is, just like the Basket Lampshade, inspiring and at the same time instructive. Really hope you’re having a go at this yourself because it’s so great to enjoy things that you have made yourself. A creative handmade pendant lamp doesn’t cost much, just effort!
Design by Alt trifft Neu | Tutorial | Facebook
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