Coil Lamp
Photo by Noah Kalina
Coil Lamp is the distillation of a lamp to its most essential elements: cord, socket, and bulb. The power cord appears to create the lamp's iconic shape by itself, elevating a humble extension cord from the toolbox to the realm of domestic design.
Coil Lamp is formed by a set of laser-cut profiles which hold the cord in place. It all starts as a flat-packed kit and the user wraps their own extension cord to complete the lamp. This DIY approach allows the consumer to participate in the design process - to make their lamp unique through their choice of cord and their wrapping technique.
Photo by Noah Kalina
Originally designed by Craighton Berman in 2009, Coil Lamp became part of the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2012.
Art Institute of Chicago, 2012
Coil Lamp in Open Source
In 2021, Berman revisited the Coil Lamp to create an ''open source'' version. With the newfound ubiquity of digital cutting tools and online fabrication services, Berman wanted to amplify the DIY concept by releasing Coil Lamp as a digital cutting file and a set of instructions.
The user is encouraged to have their parts laser cut from cardboard, yielding a less expensive product, lowering environmental impact by avoiding plastics, and reinforcing the ''temporary'' nature of the design: If the Coil Lamp is no longer wanted, the cardboard can be recycled and the cord reused.
Make your own
Coil Lamp is made via two laser-cut profiles that brace against each other to create a framework for wrapping the cord.
The profile files can be uploaded to a cutting service (like Ponoko or SendCutSend), a personal cutter (like a Glowforge), or an institutional laser cutter (a university or a public library may have one). This design is optimized for corrugated cardboard, however with some basic editing of the file, one can adjust the design for any material thickness.
To learn more about how you can make your own Coil Lamp, download the user manual and cutting files below. For around $35 in materials, an extension cord, and 30 minutes of your time you can create your own.
Photo by Noah Kalina