Booklamps is a Sustainable Lamps made of used books by Michael Bom of Bomdesign.
Dutch studio Bomdesign led by Michael Bom and Antoinet Deurloo is an experimental design studio focused on making sustainable handmade products and objects for your interior.
The practice of salvaging discarded materials to create novel designs is at the heart of Bom’s work, and he discribes himself as an artist-designer.
Paper has long been used for making lamps and laterns, Bom’s designs combine that tradition with current concerns of eco friendly product development as well as a commited interest in books. The books that Bom chooses for his designs are as he says waiting to have new life blown into them. “Some books have so much beauty in them, they might have lost their current function but certainly have the potential for a new one.”
“Everyone has an affinity with the atlas, you need it for school and after that you use it to plan your holidays or to orientate yourself in the world. I find it one of the most beautiful books to work with. The colourful pages with all the countries of the world of which everyone has their own dreams and ideas, gives the lamp extra intensity and meaning.”
Bom finds it important to implement qualities of the old material and to accentuate the beauty thereof in his new designs. He tries to achieve a balance between the used material and the new product. “You want to create a new design which captures the special quality and beauty of the old material.”
Through his designs Bom hopes to inspire people. “If we study the proces of recycling in nature, we can learn that old things can be used in the birth of new things. That discarded materials are not useless but can still have another function.
I hope that my designs contribute in people becoming more concious about how they could live in balance with their surroundings and minimise their impact on the environment. I wish that we could live in complete sustainability.
Since 2004 Michael Bom makes Booklamps and other products from used materials, his designs were nominated in 2009 for the ‘European Environmental Design Award’ in Madrid.
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