Milan 2015: Japanese studio Nendo has partnered with Italian designer Luca Nichetto to create a domed paper light for Foscarini.
Launching at the Euroluce lighting exhibition in Milan today, the Kurage lamp was conceived to look like an ice cream and was created for Venetian lighting brand Foscarini.
Its legs are made from Japanese cypress, with the rounded pieces of wood carved towards the bottom into flat surfaces to resemble popsicle or ice lolly sticks.
The washi paper shade is formed as a single three-dimensional piece made from a dyed version of a traditional Japanese material.
"Inspired by the paper ice cream, the Kurage was designed by carving the ends of 12 millimetre diameter Japanese cypress posts flat like ice candy sticks," said a statement from Nendo.
"As a material for a lampshade to suit the extremely light post was needed, we developed an original material by dyeing traditional Japanese paper made in an unusual three-dimensional process and applied it directly to this design," explained the studio.
The lamp comes in three versions: a small semi-circular dome, a squat elongated dome and a tall stretched dome.
"The lamp's soft light, together with the paper fibres that it accentuates when lit, is reminiscent of a floating jellyfish, bringing out a new expressive quality to the piece," said the studio.
The three versions were created in collaboration with Venetian designer Luca Nichetto in a process Nendo likened to a genre of Japanese poetry called tanka, or short poem.
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"In a process and format similar to the Japanese poetry genre known as tanka, in which the top three lines generate a further two-line response, we took turns coming up with a basic concept, which we then passed over to the other person to use as inspiration, and to further expand and develop," explained the studio.
"Nothing was planned in advance," added the designers. "Because we worked collaboratively, the design process felt like a jam session, with each participant taking turns improvising new melodies on top of a shared rhythm until a new song emerged."
Kurage will be exhibited at pavilion 11, stand A19B18 at Euroluce – part of the Salone del Mobile – from 14 to 19 April.
Photography is by Hiroshi Iwasaki.