The lightness of being

These lamps defy both gravity and belief, writes Craig Jacobs

It looks like an optical illusion: an old-fashioned lamp, but with the centre of the shade cut out so that the top floats in mid-air. The Silhouette lamp, though, is no magician's trick - it's a striking example of how technology is melding with design to make us see everyday objects with refreshed eyes.

Created by Dutch designer Angela Jansen through her company Crealev, like traditional lamps the Silhouette is composed of a wooden base and with a conical shaped lampshade; but what's inside is integrated levitation technology through electromagnetic components and a sophisticated control system.

"I am fascinated by the aesthetic appeal of technology and simplistic, clear concept design," says Jansen about her work.

She explained that her father is a technology inventor and she'd first wanted to incorporate his inventions into her work while studying at Eindhoven's Design Academy.

It was only after she graduated in 2006 and started Crealev and a graphic design company that she started exploring how to implement the technology she was privy to.

"I wanted to apply the technology to something we use every day and take for granted. A lamp is such an object. Although some are very beautiful, they're just there and all we do is turn them on and off. I thought that, with the levitation technology, I could make lamps a lot more interesting."

Jansen says she started researching lamps, making silhouettes of them, and realised that if she sliced the shade, thus removing part of its shape, it would become something eye-catching.

Then it was trying to figure out how to use the technology to make the design work.

"Of course the technology imposes certain restrictions (levitation height, maximum weight and materials) but at the same time design drives new developments in technology," she says about her work process.

Crealev now has a small team of several designers and a technologist and they work towards goals such as "let's make a floating clock, let's make a floating shoe, let's make a new lamp model", Jansen says.

While these sound more like objects you might find on an episode of Star Trek, Crealev has created all of them.

"The clock was quite a difficult object [to work on] and took several prototypes and about a year to design, with the time and effort mainly in the area of design," she explains. "The shoe, on the other hand, took quite some effort on the technology, while the design wasn't that important [because] the shoe floating was the design."

The Eclipse, their newest lamp, was created this year and Jansen says the difference in the design - besides the more modern shape - was that, working in a team, they were able to explore more possibilities and focus more on the smaller details.

Next up, Crealev plans on creating even more lamps, as well as floating product displays such as the one used to create the floating shoe, which was used to promote a Jordan sneaker.

l For more details on Crealev and their light fittings, go to www.light-light.com