Krakatoa
Krakatoa is a 3D printed ceramic ceiling lamp. The ceramic shell hides the ceiling canopy, the cable, and the bulb socket. The LED bulb thus appears as a pure luminous sphere, emerging from the ceramic. 3D printing is used to create a natural and organic shape, where the layers remain exposed, without colors or glazes, to give an effect similar to real rock.
ROLE
Concept generation, development, 3D modelling, prototyping, rendering.
BRIEF
Designing a 3D printable ceramic lamp for the contract sector, that only uses Creative Cables components.
NOTES
The project was developed individually for the Laboratorio di Sintesi Finale del Progetto (Final Synthesis Laboratory).
Concept Generation
Slater
The project has been a long process. The first version was called Slater: it consisted in a ceramic shell positioned on the edge between the wall and the ceiling, containing a deflector mirror, combined with a specific, high-performance spotlight. The spotlight, pointed upward, emits a beam that visibly climbs the wall, entering precisely into the lower hole in the shell. The mirror deflects the beam, which splits into eleven different rays that illuminate the ceiling.
In the end, the project wasn't carried on because the shell wasn't printable in ceramic and it didn't use Creative Cables components. I then shelved this idea (maybe for a future project) and proposed another lamp for the final submission: Stalattite.
Stalattite
In Stalattite, I radically changed the shape and the concept, but i kept following the path of poetry.
The main structure hides the ceiling canopy, from which the power cable and suspension cord start. The two cables emerge from the tip, connecting to the spherical LED bulb. A second mini-ceramic shell conceals the bulb socket, making the bulb appear as a pure sphere of light.
The heavy ceramic material attempts in vain to reach the sphere of light. The bulb socket cover is designed as an external appendage of the stalactite and represents a last, futile attempt to capture the power of the light. The result is an object both distinctive and versatile.
The lamp is available in three sizes (40, 35, and 30 cm stalactite). Thanks to this feature, Stalattite allows you to freely compose your own lighting system, creating compositions especially suited to contract environments.
After submitting the project, I had the option to confirm it or modify it for the final exam. Deeming it still incomplete and difficult to print, I decided to improve it and generate a new object: Krakatoa.
Krakatoa
In order to avoid printing problems, I changed the nature of the product: from a pendant lamp to a ceiling lamp, without the use of dangling cables. The shape was thus flattened, resulting in a much more compact object, more reminiscent of a volcano than a stalactite; hence the name Krakatoa, always following the thread of light that "escapes" from the heavy, amorphous ceramic material.
Development
Once I found a satisfactory shape, I exported the STL from Blender and re-imported everything into Fusion to add the base and prepare the file for printing. After a failed print attempt, I added nine internal ribs, which are key to preventing the structure from collapsing and distributing the weight in the steepest points.
Once I found a satisfactory shape, I exported the STL from Blender and re-imported everything into Fusion to add the base and prepare the file for printing. After a failed print attempt, I added nine internal ribs, which are key to preventing the structure from collapsing and distributing the weight in the steepest points.
Prototyping
On the second attempt, Krakatoa was printed in LDM, left to dry, and glazed to crystallize. The model is 1:1.9 scale due to the size of the printer's bed.
Printing
The lamp is designed for a 3 mm nozzle.
The shell hides nine internal ribs, which distribute the weight and prevent the "cone" structure from collapsing.
Manual refinement of the jagged edges of the crater is required immediately after printing.
CMF
Color: Natural whitish mineral tone derived from firing of the material alone, without covering pigments.
Material: Gres vitrified at 1220-1250°C to ensure structural strength.
Finish: Hybrid aesthetic between the natural porosity of the material and the rhythmic artificiality of the layers. No additional surface treatment.
Final Output
Renders
Technical Informations
Final Notes
Krakatoa isn't perfect and there's certainly room for improvement:
Although the idea was to keep the stoneware untreated, additional study on the ceramic coatings could give added value to the object.
I noticed that by replacing the external bulb with a rather intense LED diode, the effect is even more magical: Krakatoa becomes a spotlight that directs light in an irregular shape onto the surface it is pointed at; the light, instead of emerging as a luminous bulb, can literally erupt in the form of a pure beam of light. This is certainly a variation that, breaking away from Creative Cables' academic constraints, could represent a new life for this ever-evolving object.