Latticell Lamp



December, 2024
3D Printed lamp
Location:  Helsinki, Finland
Supervision: Peter Mcgrory & Teppo Vienamo

Latticell lamp is a result of an Introductory Design Project interpreted by Kristaps Grieznis.

The task of the project was to design an open design LED lamp from provided materials:
• 30 hours of white PLA plastic
• 1000mm of aluminium profile
• 5x COB-LEDs

The brief was to design an open design LED lamp that can be distributed and manufactured by students from 3D printed parts. Additional challenge was to address a specific need of a student, directly use the advantages of the 3D printing technology and fit it into the open design world with variable elements and open-source culture.

The following report will explain in detail the full process of creating a Latticell lamp starting from exploration of the brief and ending with final reflection words from taking part in the exhibition that was held in Väre, Helsinki.




Background research


    Open design – it’s a wonderful idea about giving your rights of design straight away. This was a completely new topic for me, and I remember myself thinking of many weird assumptions about it, but I could not imagine what open design truly means. Also, the brief was much more than that, so I had to dig into these challenges. When many new things and opportunities occur at the same time, it is easy to tangle between them and end up with something nice looking if you have a good taste and required understanding on how to apply the skills.  Something completely different is when you must create a solution for a narrow task such as an open design lamp out of 3D printed parts that would solve a specific problem that a student is familiar with. Thankfully, I am used to jumping into the unknown and just fully execute until the thing is finished.

    To get things started, I needed some kind of inspiration. I went back and forth from the brief and paper & pencil and tried to understand what is significant for me in this project. After the first week of doing so I found myself at a very ambitious yet emotional state regarding the approaching project which I really want to share here: “...We (students) are happy, tired, excited, lost, ambitious and overwhelmed. Being a student is something beautiful that not everyone experiences in their everyday life. Modern world makes you think that it is okay to hate your job in exchange for 30 free days a year and an all-inclusive holiday in Italy or Thailand. But being in a university can teach us something different - that there is always a choice to choose a different path. I feel that studies will change our perspectives of life values and possibilities.” - This was me, very happy and inspired right after a little walk through the campus trails that literally changed the way I feel at Aalto.
   
    There were few things that I concluded after the first part of the research. Firstly, students face difficult times, thus I decided to create a lamp that makes you feel calm whether it is turned on or off. Secondly, to achieve a form of assembling that would not require any specific skills to make the lamp work. And thirdly I found an answer to the question “Why?”. I’m a person that lives with strong sensations towards anything surrounding me. I highly value aesthetic objects, that is why I tried to create a visually appealing shape that I will not get bored of in the long run. Being around nature makes me feel at home and this is my main inspiration. Meanwhile the whole project felt like a big organic shape that is fluidly latticing around me.






Initial concept development

   The concept developing process was a crucial part of the process, because without analysing them I could not create the final design. Creating the first sketches felt very comfortable and exciting – I just sketched different shapes starting from everyday objects like empty coffee, spilled buckets and ending with more complex ideas like lightbulb walls and spherical systems. These sketches served as the main inspiration for the first lamp ideas I had to present at the early stage of the project. For the presentation I came up with 4 ideas facing different needs and open-design solutions.

[1]   The first one is called Variably and is a concept that represents the idea of movability and adjustment and uses the aluminium profile as a base. I remember not liking it that much aesthetically but thinking that it has some potential and can achieve somewhat close result in terms of the brief. As it turned out, this concept was the one that helped me to develop the final idea. I imagined a variable structure that could be attached to the walls and offer a possibility to move it in one axis (whether up or down). The shape of the dimmer was not something I was looking for, but I liked the idea of modularity.

[2]   The second idea I had is called Trashy. I remember being excited about it, thus it seemed creative and fun approach to this serious project. Inspiration for this came from the modern art installations that are made of rubbish and represents the recycling process. At the beginning I even though it had some potential, especially I liked the lid that opens and turns on the light, but I wanted to create something more functional. Having a trash bin on your desk also is not that inspiring.

[3]    The third, Pulse, was my favourite one at the time working on the beginning phase of the concepts, but after a long ping-pong between the sketches and brief it seemed like it can’t really fit the project brief. It could serve as a touchable installation art piece rather than a lamp, but still, I was deeply fascinated by the opportunity to create a form that cannot really be seen with a naked eye, such is the heart. This was the point where I sort of sensed that I want to include an artistic, yet natural aspect inside of my design.

[4]    The last one, Aalto Light, was born out of my enthusiasm towards typography. I tried to find a way to use lettering as the main character of the design, and using the title of my university seemed reasonable for the “dark horse” which in other words means unexpected winner. Another fun idea, yet not so inspiring and brief fitting.





 

Brutal Review


   Firstly, the ideas are slightly weak, but there may be some potential. Looking back makes me think how much I really understand about the production, assembling and 3D printing. Now I see this process as a great creative brainstorming, but nothing much more. I just had to keep playing this ping-pong between the brief and the sketching paper to find a solution.

   Secondly, the idea of Pulse made me self-realise a problem that I run into time after time. As a creative from a graphic design background, I often had to create a visually engaging look for something, let’s say a poster. When I just started out, the brief usually consisted of “make something cool for this band” and “I know you have some nice ideas”. Then it was my task to just boost the volume of coolness for the graphics using Photoshop, a pen and a scanner. Sometimes I remember doing things without any purpose, just because I liked to experiment with different mediums and ways to create graphics. This is how I was working for most of the time, and it turned out nice, until it suddenly became obvious that I needed to star briefing. This is when I switched from art to design. Otherwise sometimes I spent too much time on a single task because the person did not see my art as an art but as a design and that required to make sense not just only look cool.

   “But…”, I was thinking, “What’s wrong with cool looking things?”

   There is really nothing wrong with cool looking things and images. Also, there is nothing wrong with dressing up like a superstar. But your outer looks tell nothing about your personality, and if you are a rude, careless or sloppy, people will notice that and your outer looks will not matter anymore. But… If you are well dressed, caring and organized human being that guides others and is helpful, you will be liked and treated well. Same applies to the design.

   But now let’s get back to the program.



New obsession: Latticel

   Using Variably as a guide for its modular kind, I developed a new idea that was deeply inspired by the parametric shapes and repeating patterns often found in nature and everyday objects. It was right in time when I finally felt confident with using 3D software Rhino, because now I could switch my focus from paper to screen.

   Developing the shape was a real adventure – my best friend here was SubD tool as I completely took advantage of it. After understanding how to create pipes from crossed lines I developed an organic multi-pipe matt that made me excited. From there I went to rectangular shapes, but could not figure out how to create a cylindric shape. I don’t know why I was so obsessed with it, but I spent hours and hours of playing with this tool. I wanted to create a cylindric shape with a hidden light source with it. It was a real struggle – It took me few days to understand “how to do it”. Oh, how wrong was I. Should just straight jump into the Grasshoper (another nerdy 3D term)!




   After creating the outer shell of the lamp, I went straight to the 3d printing lab and printed it. Firstly, I had to make changes for the design, because initially I wanted to have the bottom of the print with rounded shaped legs, but it was not quite possible to do that. After simply cutting down the base, I printed the outer shell and oh, how happy was I seeing it printing. I liked how it looked, but I wanted to reduce the post-processing, so I made the holes more oval for better printing performance and slight dimension adjustment. That’s why later I printed another, more polished version of it.

    Then, I faced a problem. I had to come up with the solution that could hide the LED system, yet not ruin the organic structure. From my perspective,
this was the point where I got the idea of the design process and how unpredictable it is. I tried creating lids, caps and little roofs to hide the soldered LED structures. Nothing really met my expectations, so I kept going back and forth from my sketch paper to the teachers to find a solution. But now, let’s step aside for a minute from that.



     
    Meanwhile the whole world seemed to be rotating around the 3D printing workshop, time after time I spent evenings rendering the lamp. The process seemed exciting at the beginning but the hands-on experience with creating something real seemed too much interesting and I did not find the inspiration to really dive deep into the 3D rendering. It was fun and I enjoyed the process, but replicating the reality in the screen is not something I am too excited about in age of Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, it was very, very valuable what we learned in the lectures – now I can replicate things and can notice better what is real and what is not.




   
   After the first renders I switched back to the problems I had with the base. Thankfully, a solution was found – I had to create a simple, yet flowy bottom base that merges with the shell and holds the whole structure and a lid, that saves our eyes from the bright light. The first bottom I modelled did not fit the shell and for some reason looked low quality. It was caused by my ignorance about differently angled legs the shell had. And the cap was just slightly too tall, so I had to reduce that. At the time I had already started the mechatronics and experimented with the wrongly printed base as it was perfect for trying out the LED system. It took me approximately 8 hours from start to finish to create the system. It was a beautiful Saturday with a beautiful ending – after hours of processing the aluminium profiles, soldering the wires and eating candies, I could finally see the lamp with my eyes, shining brightly. Few days later I printed some new parts that assembled perfectly.

The lamp was ready for the exhibition.




Photo by: Florencia Yeh / @floreyyeh



User manual




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Ideology


   Lattice is a framework that forms a grid-like pattern with empty spaces. It ensures support, while allowing space between the components. Cell is a simple unit, within a larger structure. In biology, both terms often meet, and when that happens, these patterns help maintaining order and function within biological systems, which leads to everything we see around.

   I believe that design cannot be nor finalized, nor measured, thus what is finished for one, is just the beginning for another. As an open-source project, Latticel needs to be constantly adjusted for specific needs. Officially, Cell (as the base of the lamp) should stay untouched over the designs, ensuring quality control for the created projects and pushing the limits for outer shell adjustments. It does not mean the user can’t adjust the Cell too, it is just not included into the official downloadable instruction package.

   By creating a calming ambience, being easy to assemble and offering adaptability, it offers accessibility and guidance for having the table lamp of your own preferences. The organic design helps students relax from academic pressures and new environments, making it a great interior object. It is user-friendly, requiring no advanced skills for assembly and required simple components making it affordable and accessible. Students are often limited to their spaces; thus, the combination of comfort, simplicity and nature makes it ideal for student living environments.