Look at all of this crazy stuff that 3D printing has allowed designers to pull off! I mean, just peruse 3DPI for all of the unique and ingenious designs made possible by the technology. In lighting alone, 3D printing has inspired some outside of the box thinking that includes using the technology to make lithophane lamps, kaleidoscopic colors, and sprawling forests of shadows. Most recently, we were made aware of the latest work from Michiel Cornelissen, who has transformed the spatial limitations imposed by 3D printing and turned them into a strength of design with his 3D printed ZooM lamp.
Michiel Cornelessen has taken a strategy we’ve seen with Nervous Systems’ kinematic fashion design and applied it to lighting decor. The ZooM Lampshade is printed as a single, flat piece, made up of hundreds of tiny elements, that, when pulled off of the printbed, folds into a structured light cover.
As the video below explains, printing the shade flat requires less build volume and, therefore, less print material, as the object needs no support structures, ultimately saving money spent on feedstock.
ZooM is available for purchase through Cornelissen’s Shapeways and i.Materialise shops, though they’re a bit cheaper through Shapeways. A smaller lampshade, about 20 cm in diameter and 18 cm high, has a price tag of $149 (or €110) and the larger, about 28 cm in diameter and 25 cm high, has a price tag of $279 (or €206) on Shapeways. I just wish the .stl was available for free so I could try to print this thing at home!
Source: Michiel Cornelissen
