Lanna Factory Makes You Work For Your Lampshade

A woman sits at a wooden table with a set of pedals attached. A large frame sits on top of the table with a lampshade form spinning in it and five strings run through an apparatus to the frame. A shelving unit with finished lampshades sits behind the woman.

While you could 3D print a lampshade, there’s something to be said for having a more active role in the process of creating an object. [THINKK Studio] has made custom lampshades as easy as riding a bike.

The Lanna Factory was inspired by the cotton ball string lamps sold by vendors in Thai flea markets. Bangkok-based [THINKK Studio] wanted to build a device to let anyone have a hand (and feet) in making a custom lampshade without any experience. Five spools of thread are routed through a “glue case” and onto a spindle holding a lampshade mold. Pedals control the wrapping speed and the location on the shade being wrapped is controlled with a hand wheel on the table.

Once the glue dries, the shade can be removed from the mold and fitted with the appropriate hardware. Giving the user control over the process means that each lampshade will be unique and the final product will mean that much more to the person who made it.

If you’re thinking this would be cooler in carbon fiber, than maybe you should checkout the X-Winder.

6 thoughts on “Lanna Factory Makes You Work For Your Lampshade

  1. i once made a lamp shade out of 2 coat hangers and used printer paper. bent the coat hangers into two parallel circles and appropriate connecting bits. to attach the paper, i had to slit it a little bit at the ends to match the shape, and i just used a bunch of regular elmer’s school glue.

    the crazy part is, it’s lasted already a decade without much damage, even though the kids use it every day! i really meant it just as a joke project to shame the wife for over-paying for a used lamp that was missing a shade :) but it’s turned out to be a useful part of our lives

    1. I once had a hotel charge me for a lampshade, so I figured, since I was already overpaying for it it’s mine. I took it around to the rest of the convention and had all the cool kids sign it.

  2. This is a very cool project. Interactive art is awesome, and interactive creative permanent art is even better.
    I was really hoping this was going to be a pedal powered wood lathe that cut thin section wood lampshades.

  3. In the video they made the lamp shade but never showed it in use on a real lamp. I can see gaps in the shade material. That might be annoying to look at on a real lamp. They might want to consider using colored ribbon instead of thin string for better coverage.

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