As a member of Wesleyan University’s Interdisciplinary Project Lab, I was assigned to design and construct a lampshade for a designed wall-mounted context: to “investigate the relationship between form and material – in this case paper.”

Lampshades were required to be “made of one type of white paper; use the laser cutter in […] conception and execution; and use one type of glue (if necessary).”

Inspired by seemingly-floating wall sconces, I began by experimenting with curvature and hidden mounting methods.

Sketching in my notebook, I came up with creative constraints for my shade:

• Made of simple bent or folded shapes, held together without glue;
• Minimal and beautiful, appearing to “float;”
• [Somewhat] modular, allowing interchangeable shapes and materials to give the light a new quality.

My initial mounting method of a “band” held up by the supplied hooks was not strong enough for suspended sheets of paper. Properly-measured holes turned out to be the trick, creating a pressure-fit around the lightbulb’s mounting point.

The cut consists of two simple holes; different hole positions allow for different curves when mounted.

Variations determined by angle, hole distance, and stacking shown: