Designed by Sara Krugman, Rohit Sharma, Katie Kindinger and Andrew Stock, the Kowtowing Lamp aims to explore products with individuality. The beautiful lamp works as both a lighting unit and a data visualization device. The Kowtowing Lamp aims to express that “how things communicate” is also as significant as “what they communicate”. Made from plywood, the lamp first appeared to be breathing at its bottom portion. On further analysis, its creators found that the lamp bowed towards them instead of breathing. The upper part of the lamp is a single sheet, which has been made flexible and mat-like by a special laser-cut pattern.
This pattern helped the design team cover the sheet of wood into a cylinder to form a shade. For the lower part of the lamp, they have used flexible flat strips of plywood that bend outward to give way to the light. LED panels and chains are there in both the top and bottom portions. The lights and the servomotor are connected to an external Arduino microcontroller. The Kowtowing Lamp offers a glimpse of the future where objects communicate with you and among each other.
