Source: treehugger.com

Published: October 24, 2012

Dezeen/via

Kimberley Mok

Kimberley Mok

From biofuels to fish-free health supplements and interactive, energy-generating “cyber-gardens,” there are a lot of potential green uses for algae. On the design side, we’ve previously seen London-based designer Julia Lohmann’s prototypical lamps made out of sheep’s stomachs, and now she has turned to kelp — a fast-growing, large kind of algae best known in Asian cuisines — for creating lighting made out of abundantly-available and natural materials.

Featured over at Dezeen during Vienna Design Week, Lohmann’s kelp lamps were made using a rattan frame over which kelp pieces were sewn, or wetted before being shaped and stretched over. Eye-catching patterns were laser-cut into the kelp, showing how the material could be transformed from its natural state into something that could look quite interesting. Says Lohmann:

Seaweed is an amazing material. We consume it almost every day – there are extracts of seaweed in toothpaste. But we hardly ever see the material itself, and I think there is a value in it that has not been fulfilled yet.

Julia Lohmann Kelp Lamps

Dezeen/via

But lighting wasn’t the only goal; the project was done in collaboration with fellow designers Gero Grundmann, and local milliner Moya Hoke, and furriers Herbert and Christiane Weinberger in order to create hats and other structural works to demonstrate the possibilities of kelp in areas like replacing leather, veneering and marquetry as well. We wonder how these kelp lamps will be kept from biodegrading, but nevertheless, it’s a fascinating exploration of materials; more over at Dezeen (audio interview available) Julia Lohmann’s website.