Pierre Ospina Plants a Forest of LED Blossom Bulbs at ICFF

Amidst the colorful swarm of furniture design at last Saturday's <a title="ICFF" href="http://www.icff.com/" target="_blank">ICFF</a> during <a href="http://inhabitat.com/new-york-design-week/">New York Design Week </a>stood a miniature forest of luminous "trees" that lit up <a title="Pierre Ospina's" href="http://www.pierreospina.net/" target="_blank">Pierre Ospina's</a> booth. The native French designer was showing off his latest creations, known as "<a title="Blossom Bulbs" href="http://www.pierreospina.net/p/blossom-bulbs.html" target="_blank">Blossom Bulbs</a>," which feature several innovative re-purposed materials, as well as low energy LED bulbs. The series of lamps created a much needed micro-sanctuary within the festival itself where this young, gregarious designer explained his vision.

Ospina used the rubber linings of tires to wrap each lamp's pillar-like base in a black, semi-glossy covering.

Staggered along each lamp are a series of leaf-shaped cut outs that cradle spherical <a title="LED globes" href="http://inhabitat.com/aqua-creations-stunning-origami-led-lamps-are-folded-from-a-single-sheet-of-paper/" target="_blank">LED globes</a>. The designer adapted the <a title="commercially available LED bulbs" href="http://inhabitat.com/philips-to-unveil-the-worlds-first-led-replacement-for-the-75-watt-bulb/" target="_blank">commercially available LED bulbs</a> by outfitting them with glass globes, giving the lamps a much softer look. Because of the wide availability of discarded tire linings, this particular design holds a lot of potential for an economically viable and inherently "green" commercial product.

The lamp itself is an excellent example of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/win-1000-in-the-bright-ideas-lighting-design-competition/" target="_blank">new creative freedom made possible by LED</a> bulbs' low-temperature light. Incandescent and fluorescent bulbs' high temperatures could create a potential fire hazard because of the design's close contact between the bulb and rubber encasing.

Each lamp comes in a wide array of different sizes, and can be used as table, or floor lighting. While the lamps could be used individually, the artist stressed the importance of creating a "landscape to wander" by organically spacing multiple pieces. Ospina's work is an instance where tasteful design meets technological innovation, and adaptive re-use of materials. We hope to see his lamps available to the public in the near future.