Nir Meiri made the lamps by draping fresh seaweed over a structure of thin metal spokes attached to a metal base. The final shape of each lampshade is formed as the seaweed dries and shrinks, before being set with a preservative.

Marine Light was presented at Spazio Rossana Orlandi in Milan last month. Other lamps on show included a light with coloured LEDs in red, green and blue to cast shadows in cyan, magenta and yellow and a folding lamp powered by little wind-up keys. See all our stories about Milan 2013 »

This isn't the first time a lamp has been crafted from seaweed. London-based designer Julia Lohmann previously used dried strips of seaweed to make laser-cut kelp lampshades.

Other lamps we've featured by Nir Meiri include a set of table lamps with metal shades hanging from thin stalks and a collection of tactile moulded lights made from desert sand.

Photography is by Shay Ben Efrayim and Aviram Ohad.

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Here's some more information from the designer:

Marine Light

This project is inspired by the sea.

Through the unconventional use of seaweed as a main material for a domestic environment, the product plays on the tension between the artistic and the commercial.

Ancient cultures have appreciated and utilized seaweeds for different uses. Today, seaweeds are cultivated and harvested on a commercial scale, as a result of a growing interest driven by environmental concerns.

The Marine Light lamp combines a metal base and a structure of thin metal strings for the lamp-shade. The seaweeds are applied on the metal strings while still fresh. As they dry, they shrink and obtain the form of the lamp-shade. A mixture of preserving material is applied to preserve them.

The light reflected through the seaweeds and the morphology of the lamp induce underwater images Furthermore, the use of seaweeds, borrowed from other disciplines into the world of design, might inspire new thinking in the field.

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by Nir Meiri appeared first on Dezeen.

Above: Julia Lohmann talks to Dezeen editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about the project

Lohmann used a laser cutting machine to create patterns in pieces of kelp before sewing them together, or stretched them into shape while wet to dry into new forms.

The malleable strips are also wrapped around rattan structures to create a variety of shapes. "The rattan acts like a skeleton and the seaweed is like a skin on top of it," Lohmann told Dezeen.

"Seaweed is an amazing material. We consume it almost every day – there are extracts of seaweed in toothpaste," said Lohmann. "But we hardly ever see the material itself, and I think there is a value in it that has not been fulfilled yet."

Seaweed could be used as a substitute for leather, parchment and even some kinds of plastics, the designer argued. "I've made a veneer that works really well, so it could be a substitute for hardwood," she said.

Lohmann also hopes to promote the use of seaweed in fish farms to filter water and provide an additional income for struggling fishing communities. "I want to develop tools to make something from the material that is very valuable, and then I would love to share them with the communities, who then can combine them with their local craft techniques," she explained.

Next year Lohmann will launch the Department of Seaweed at the V&A museum in London as part of her half-year residency there, parodying the institution's Department of Ceramics or Department of Silverware to explore the possibilities of the material.

We previously featured a set of kelp objects by Lohmann presented in Milan in 2008.

Dezeen also filmed an interview with Lohmann at Design Miami in which she introduces five images that represent her life in design.

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Here's some more information from the designer:

Julia Lohmann used her time at the Kunsthalle Project Space during Vienna Design Week 2012 to publicly work with kelp as a design material. She was joined by her partner, designer Gero Grundmann, and collaborated with local designer/milliner Moya Hoke and the master furriers Herbert and Christiane Weinberger to create stretched and laser-cut lamps, hats as well as structural test pieces to showcase the strength, flexibility and luminosity of kelp. Lohmann preserved the material to give it a supple, leather-like quality and also worked with pressed dry kelp, which she prepared for veneering and marquetry applications.

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by Julia Lohmann appeared first on Dezeen.

Live from Milan: Julia Lohmann has been creating objects from seaweed this week at gallery Nilufar, as part of the Panta Rei exhibition.

Lohmann uses dried kelp from Japan and Ireland, which she soaks, stretches and varnishes and then uses to create lamp shades.

Here's a bit of info from Lohmann:

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For Panta Rei, I will set up a kelp-workshop in which I will build objects from this marine plant.

The inspiration to use kelp as a material came through my residency in Sapporo, Japan. Kelp (Konbu in Japanese) is an essential ingredient in many Japanese dishes. It grows up to one metre per day and can be harvested sustainably.

Visitors will be able to follow the whole design process from raw material to finished products.

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