Designers are giving lampshades an avant-garde makeover. With versions made of pierced disposable plastic spoons and polka-dot and punched polypropylene - there's even one that knits itself before you go to sleep - it seems as if there's no end to ideas when it comes to transforming the lampshade into a highly decorative conversation piece.
Polish designer Agnieszka Lasota (agnieszka-lasota.pl) took inspiration from native folklore to create the Wreath Project lamp: 130 metres of silk ribbon tied into 120 knots around a wire spiral construction.
Italian brand Kartell (kartell.it) recently unveiled its Tati lamp (above right), made of transparent polycarbonate in opaline or black. When it's off, it looks like a functional, everyday lampshade. Switched on, the surface gives off a light of adjustable intensity that illuminates the entire piece.
Artemide's (artemide.us) Edge 30 Suspension is a futuristic cube lampshade that hangs from the ceiling. Created by Alessandro Mendini, the piece filters fluorescent lighting - that scourge of any home environment - through a polypropylene diffuser to produce a soft and subtle light.
Polypropylene appears to be in vogue among lampshade design- ers. British duo Arash and Kelly (arashandkelly.com) in 2008 re- leased their ZiPP lightshade, so named because the way in which the flower-shaped shade is 'zipped' determines its shape, so its appear- ance is changeable. Late last year, the company introduced a special-edition ZiPP, this time in multicolour- ed polka dots, which was auctioned for charity.