Lamp Design by Manu Bañó: Oxidised Steel on Sheets of Paper

Manu Baño, an acclaimed designer, fashioned OBJ-03 out of a single sheet of weathered steel, a lamp composed of “the fewest possible elements”. The simple, sleek lamp design of OBJ-03 is determined by an oxidized metal sheet that was crafted by trial and error of cutting and folding pieces of paper.

The lamp is stabilized by a steel bar located in its rear.

“I designed the lamp by making numerous cuts and different folds on sheets of paper,” Bañó said.

“I knew I wanted to work with thin sheets of steel for the final piece, and it made the most sense to conduct all the tests on paper,” he added.

A lamp formed from one material is crafted from oxidised steel with a textured finish.

The lamp is crafted from a two-millimetre-thick sheet of rust and shaped in a single arc that simultaneously acts as its leg for support and its light-emitting surface.

Baño declared that “all components are absolutely essential.” The intention is not to replicate a lamp but to be a three-dimensional artwork during the daylight hours and to shine in the darkness.

An LED strip is hidden behind the steel bar at the rear of the lamp, emitting a gentle glow that is directed at the curve of the lamp.

The bar has been crafted to provide balance, with a weight that enables the lamp to stay upright on its own.

The steel is subjected to the outdoor climate.

The steel of the lamp was exposed to the outdoors for a month in order to create the rusted surface, then it was cleaned and sealed to prevent further oxidation.

“The first lamp I made was from polished natural steel, but in the curved part of the piece where the light bounces, the points of the hidden LED strip behind the leg were reflected,” Bañó said.

“I also like [the oxidised steel] because it’s a non-uniform finish that adds personality to such a simple geometry and makes each lamp different and unique, as it never rusts the same way,” he added.

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