These LED lamps don’t have much to them — because most of their integrity is supplied by the air from your lungs, which fills their polyethylene skins.
The brainchild of German graduate designer Theo Möller, the Blow lamps are inflated by blowing into a valve at one one end of the aluminium-coated polyethylene tubes. At sufficient pressure, the valve is forced closed, leaving a tube stiff enough to form its own lamp structure. Möller explains:
“The idea behind the light BLOW was to design a flying lamp. I wanted to use the heat of bulbs to let a lamp fly and ended up with a simple inflatable tube connected with an LED stripe.
“The flexible LED stripe fits into a thin tunnel on the translucent bottom foil of the lamp.That means that you can separate the components and do not have the trouble with safety certificates.”
Clever. The light from that LED strip then reflects off the metallic coating inside the lamp to create an ambient light source. Created in a range of sizes — the longest is 4m, yet weighs just 600g — the balloons can be attached to fittings or stands using magnets hidden inside the tubes. Alternatively, you can suspend them using thread, so they appear to be float.
The product is still a concept, but Möller is confident that the lamps should be easy to mass produce and sell at affordable prices. If it does happen, at least shipping should be a cinch. [Theo Möller via Dezeen]