Andra Wibisono: Week 9 Lamp

My lamp drew inspiration from the movement of aquatic creatures. Specifically, I studied the movement of squids, octopuses and jellyfish, drawing out several sketches to see the kinds of forms that could suit a lamp structure. I then began modelling my forms on rhino and produced 4 unique structures. I took a radial approach to my construction as oppose to a waffle structure. I felt that the long and curved verticals communicated the form successfully. Another consideration I took was the size restriction of the cut sheet and using a waffle structure would not allow me to fit all the pieces into the given size of material.

I began modelling through curves. I laid out curves in two directions to lay out my form, then created a surface using the curve network command. This approach gave me a lot of flexibility with my design. I could tweak the form by changing the shape of the curves. I then offset the surface to create an inner structure and capped the openings using the sweep2 command. To create the ribs, I projected an array of lines to my object and created horizontal ribs through the section command. The notches were created using the pipe and section technique.

While rendering this lamp, I wasn't satisfied with the wood material presets. I decided to apply a matt plastic material, changing the colour, roughness and specular settings to communicate a finished wooden texture. I then rendered with global illumination on and applied a gradient in Photoshop for my background.