Open Up Lamp by Mark Champkins

When design embrace nature, that’s when poetry arises.

The Open Up Lamp by Mark Champkins, for instance:

The Open Up Lamp in action (sped up 6x)

It’s thermokinetic; it reacts to the heat of the light bulb. It opens up when it is turned on, and closes when it is switched off – somewhat like flowers that open up to the first rays of daylight.

The designer explains:

The lampshade is made up of polypropylene “petals” and six bi-metallic strips which are activated by the heat emitted by a bulb. Bi-metallic strips are a sandwich of copper and steel. When heated, the copper expands more than the steel causing the strip to bend.

Of course the days that light bulbs gave off enough heat to do this are well past us, luckily, but the concept is still beautiful – it reacts to changes in the environment.

It reminds me of a specific art work by Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde, LOTUS.

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