Date 2022

Medium Digital (Blender, Rhino 7), Cardboard

Size 14cm x 14cm x 16cm

Context Individual Work

This project is a lantern that uses one light bulb as its light source. From the beginning, I knew that wanted to merge the lampshade and the lamp itself; I wanted to create a monolithic and simple shape that acts as both lamp and shade as opposed to a traditional lamp that has a separate lamp body and lampshade.

While brainstorming ideas and making the initial model, I considered the challenges that using a single bulb might present. One of the biggest issues that I found was that the bulb might not be bright enough to illuminate as much space as I would want it to. My solution to this problem was to hollow the bottom, removing a shade from it, and make the sides flat. Because of this, if more light is required, the lamp can be tipped on its side to create a “flashlight effect” where the bottom of the lamp projects copious amounts of light. On the other hand, if this lamp is working alongside other sources of light, then it can be put bottom down in order to compliment these other lights.

Something else that I considered was where the wire for the bulb would go. The more iterations I made, the more that I realized that a hidden wire would be needed if I wanted to follow through with the monolithic design. My solution to this problem was to create a channel in one of the four pillars.

In my final iteration, I realized that the base of the lamp body would use up far too much material (with no functional purpose), so I drastically reduced the size of the base of the structure.

While creating the physical lamp, I made the decision to make each of the four supports far thinner. I had three reasons for doing so: first, the bulb can still be supported even with thinner supports, rendering the thicker supports unnecessary. Second, making each support skinnier allows for light to escape the structure better, thereby making the lantern brighter and superior in its function as a lamp. Lastly, reducing the size of each support lessens the amount of materials required to construct the structure.

Another change I decided to make while building the physical lamp was to raise the platform that the lightbulb rests on. I made this change because I wanted to let the light have more space to expand. If I were to lower the platform, the lightbulb would be too close to the ground, and the light would not have the same effect that it would have if it were raised up; the light coming out of the end of the bulb would stop as soon as it were to come out of the bulb.

My end goal for this project is to 3D print an altered version of my render (an iteration that uses what I’ve learned from the physical model), and make a mold of the print that I can use to cast concrete (a material that will fit well with the monolithic theme of the lantern).

Project Four

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