New York City, NY
Toni Ann Hoffman
The Cocoon
Class: Design Studio 2
School Year: Sophomore
The challenge of designing a light was given to us with complete freedom. I focused on ambient lighting and natural qualities.
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The project went through various forms, exploring materials and lighting effects. Bringing focus to the effects of lighting and finding one composition that perfectly encapsulates the emotion intended for this piece was important.
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The process explores various mediums to get across the changes and continuous edits to explore which light emotes best.
Initial Ideas
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I brainstormed various forms that related to Nature. The space I imagined this piece would sit in is a modern one that makes the natural elements of this peice feel both out of place yet perfectly placed.
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With that I started thinking of ways to make naturistic qualities fit a modern commercial space. This revolved around material choice and creating an ambient light that complimented the piece but did not loose focus of it's entirety..
Floral Garden
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Layering to bring attention to the piece was an element I wanted to include this I explored floral qualities for the piece.
Paper Fan
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Inspired by Japanese paper fans called "Harisen" the materials naturistric qualities and imitation of leaves was one of the inital concepts I explored.
Refraction
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I explored the lighting element of refraction after fascination with material eploration. With this I found Dichroic glass that would achive my visual goal.
Orthographic
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To keep track of the various layers on this piece an orthgraphic drawing helped with the dimensions I needed for the final piece. This also kept track of specifics such as the angles I needed for each wing to rest on. Other details such as the holes on the wings were vital to the manufacturing process. This mainly helped with figuring out the mechanics of how the wings would sit onto the rod without putting pressure on the bulb.
Minimalist Decor
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The piece easily fits in a space to compliment its environment. The light would add color to minimalist spaces as the light hits the Dichroic glass, refracting into color rays and specs.
Setting Exploration
Darker Hues
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The piece also blends into rooms with darker color combinations by blending in with the environment until turned on to a diffused and ambient light.
Natural Qualities
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The piece blends in with natural qualities and compliments materials well. This piece can be a flexible with natural to modern qualities depending on the space it is placed in.
Gold Base
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The wings rely on the structural integrity of the base that connects the light fixture to the body. This base is the most critical piece to its full form as it needs to carry the weight on its own, rather than weigh down the build and wires.
The Cocoon
Final Piece
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Essentially the ideal material is acrylic to be as light as possible, the model is made with Birchwood that was CNC cut to create perfect dimensions from the renders.
Full Effect
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To mimic the Dichroic glass inspiration but with less weight, I used a rainbow refractive film to shoot the light out of the wing holes to create shattered colorful shadows across the room.
