Ajetoglass

Light shades for the prototype of my Ceiling Lamp #1 design were recently completed at Ajeto Glassworks in North Bohemia, Czech Republic. I submitted design drawings to Ajeto a few months back and the samples were ready for me to pick up when I got to Prague last week. An early winter snow storm delayed that journey but, last Friday I braved the winter snows, drove to the town of Lindava and picked up the first six examples. I am very happy with the results.

Each shade was hand made by master glassblowers. First blowing a layer of clear glass, into a wooden mold made from my drawings, followed by a layer of white glass, then the top and bottom edges are cut and ground flat.

The next step in production of the prototype will be to create the light shade holder structure. This will require machining of oversize blanks that can be used to create the necessary molds. These structural parts will all be cast in brass, then CNC machined for a precision fit.

Update: Ceiling Light #1

Below are some new renderings of my Ceiling Light #1 design...

I have modified the design slightly. The mounting plate is more elaborate and fits better with view of the lights when looking up from beneath.

The cap screws that attach the shade mounts are smaller and use the same material as the shade mounts. This de-emphasizes the mounting screws whereas the previous design highlighted them.

Meanwhile a mold has been made for the glass shades, I am hoping to have four copies ready to start building a prototype within the next few weeks.

Ceiling Light #1

My most recent design (ceiling light #1) is inspired by interior designers of the Czech Cubist period. The light fixture (below), by Czech architect Josef Gočár (1913), illustrates the basic form I wanted to use.

The glass shades in ceiling light #1 (below) utilize an inverted crystalline form geometrically distorted into a shape that cannot be found in nature.

The geometry has been deconstructed, such that, when viewed from any angle, the observer can always see more than one spatial face. For example, when viewed from below, all vertical sides are visible, when viewed from the front or back, the left and right sides are partially visible.

The shade mount (below) is the main structural unit. It is an angular form, made from brass, which simultaneously supports the glass lamp and projects it upward.

Detail of a single lamp from Ceiling Light #1

A rendering of the entire assembled light fixture is shown below. Three lamps are arranged together in a triangular pattern then hung from the ceiling by a triple stem. Each shade is 300mm long (about 1 foot), and 150mm wide (about 6 inches) at the top.

The rendering below shows how the light fixture would look when viewed from directly underneath. A triple hexagon is arranged into a triangular pattern. This shape was inspired by the concrete blocks commonly used to pave the sidewalks in parts of the Vinohrady district of Prague.

Below: It is amazing what you can see sometimes in something that you walk over every day...