PET LAMP project
In the first stages of our project we actually focused on making a lamp made of plastic PET bottles. When we decided to design a lamp and we did research, we actually found a project that had the same vision as we did. This is the ‘PET lamp project’ from Alvaro Catalan de Ocon, a product designer from Madrid. In 2011 Alvaro Catalan de Ocon and his team started the concept-project in Spain where they made the concept of a PET lamp, a lamp made of plastic PET bottles.
When Alvaro went on a visit to Colombia he was invited by Helene Le Drogou, a psychologist and activist concerned with the plastic waste that contimnates the Colombian Amazon, and she gave him the opportunity to share his opinion about the plastic waste problem as an industrial designer. With his point of view, Alvaron concerned the plastic waste problem as an everyday problem that ‘affects us on global level.’ (de Ocon).
After he realised this, he was determined to provide an answer to this global issue; which he did by setting up a project. He wanted to combine ancient artisan resources with plastic waste in his project; he chose to combine textile tradition with plastic PET bottles. Alvaro’s idea was to ‘convert an object with a short and specific lifespan into a product enriched by the cosmogony of the local culture.
In 2012 they launched the project in Colombia, due to their cultural wealth. They gave workshops in corporation with arteseans from Cauca who had old guerrilla-soldiers.
In 2013 the final PET lamps were presented on the market of the Milan Furniture Fair where it received extremely positive reactions.
After the successful launch the PET lamp project went on to Chile in 2013 and to Ethiopia in 2014.
The PET lamp project share the same vision as we do; we want to clean the world by creating valuable products and thereby creating business. The PET lamp project actually uses local talent with plastic waste and creates business for local communities in the countries where the project operates.
The PET lamp they produce was a great inspiration for us. The technique they used where they use to whole PET bottle is amazing and we wanted to create not an identical lamp, but a lamp with a similar technique.
In the end we are not focusing on creating a lamp, but on market research. But next to the market research one of or prototypes is a lamp. And we are still very inspired by the PET lamp project. In order to gain more information about their project, we had a conversation by e-mail where they were very enthusiastic about our project and send us extra information about the technique they use. We were planning to go out to Madrid for a weekend, but unfortunately we couldn’t find a suitable weekend to go.
