SOFT pendant lamp

designer: Reinier de Jong

The SOFT Lamp emerges from a single flat sheet that transforms into a three-dimensional object through gravity.

A circular shape is laser-cut with 36 radial notches that stop just before the center. When the sheet is lifted, the segments bend downwards under their own weight, creating a self-generated lampshade.

The final geometry is not predetermined. It arises from the relationship between the cut, the diameter, the material thickness, and the stiffness. Each material yields a different result: polystyrene creates a soft, volumetric fold; metals such as copper, brass, or aluminum result in a sharper, more controlled bend.

The design does not impose a form on the material. Instead, it establishes conditions within which the material determines its own final form.

Light is filtered by the resulting structure, where density and openness continuously change depending on the degree of curvature. The lamp becomes a representation of its own material properties – an object defined by gravity, tension, and variation rather than static geometry.

SOFT Lamp explores how a two-dimensional system can generate spatial complexity with minimal intervention, allowing form to emerge from the inherent properties of the material itself.