WEmake‘s beautiful Beryl and Friends lamps are composed from cast-off bases and lampshades that have fallen out of favor. The designers carefully refinish each component and then recombine them to eclectic effect, re-wiring and re-stocking them with low energy bulbs. Beryl and Friends were included in (re)design‘s ‘Lighten up‘ exhibition at 100% Design at this year’s London Design Festival.
We first caught up with while WEmake‘s designers while they were busy creating their Beryl & Friends collection by an empty swimming pool at the drizzily Designersblock party in Milan earlier this year. We were lucky enough to be treated to a live demonstration of their design process. First, the exterior skin of each lampshade is melted into place with a blowtorch, shrouding the new lamp in an opaque jacket. Next, patches of print, traditional fringe, and wire frames are combined to glorious effect, while preserving the lamp’s features so that they may be re-interpreted again at a later date.
Previous work by WEmake includes their tongue in cheek salt and pepper ‘Condoments’ which are molded from a latex prophylactic and aim to ‘avoid pregnant pauses at the dinner table’. These can be purchased, along with intriguing DIY inspiration kits, from the WEmake website, and a book of the ‘Lighten up‘ exhibition is available for purchase online.
+ WEmake
+ London Design Festival
