Lightweight was a range of lights addressing the benefits of small-scale manufacturing and ecological concerns about transportation and materials, while also allowing the user an opportunity to contribute to the design. The series forms a significant stage in and extension to Boontje’s ongoing investigation into public and domestic lighting, from inexpensive consumer items for Habitat to the Swarovski-commissioned Blossom chandelier of 2001.
Conventionally, products are resolved by the designer and can be little changed when they leave the factory. In Lightweight, the user’s contribution is the weight – stones the user has brought back from walks, books, ceramic plates, etc. – which in turn saves on the costs and potential waste arising from transporting a heavy base. Weight is increasingly acknowledged as an important factor in sustainable design (e.g. Hollington 2011). The range also exploited sustainable materials, such as bamboo grown in the UK and recycled metals and plastics.
Boontje initially developed the collection using a series of drawings, tests and mock-ups. Analysing these, more refined models were created in the studio, and computer models were then made for prototyping. These were also used to generate the digital files for manufacturing by CNC wire bending and laser cutting. The final assembly took place in the studio, including binding the cable holders to the bamboo with copper wire by hand and screen printing graphics on the Tyvek lamp shade of the floor-standing light.
The collection was exhibited as part of London Design Festival 2012, and widely discussed in design blogs around the world.