CRYSTAL CLOUDS

Stanford University, 2014   •   3 Weeks   •   Individual Project

The Need
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To design a lamp in Issey Miyake’s design language. To use light as a material and study it well enough to be able to manipulate it to create desired quality of illumination.

Design Language
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After studying elements like form, intersections, material and color, Issey Miyake’s design language was broadly understood as:

• Highly defined, sharp and geometric forms
• Yet a sense of flowy-ness because of the connections between individual shapes and the use of fabric
• A lot of playfulness with the use of bright colours
• The clothes have an on and off stage depending on whether they are being worn or not. During which the they look completely different.

Concept, Form & Material Explorations
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The first two prototypes explore using motion to add playfulness to the illumination.

Different forms were tried. A lot of attention was also given the quality of the illumination being created by using different light sources and different materials to diffuse the light.

The Light
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Wall sconces that add subtle illumination, plenty of playfulness and activate passive space like passageways.

As observed, Issey Miyake’s clothes have an on and off stage. Similarly, when the lamp is off the surface appears highly defined, geometric and sharp. The colour appears dull with a slight hint of neon. On the contrary, when turned on, the sharp edges get blur and surfaces merge into each other. The neon from the background takes over.

The colour of the illumination is unusual and adds playfulness which is seen in Miyake’s clothes.