Six Norwegian Designers turn Salvaged Materials into Contemporary Lighting Designs

FDT Bureau

Members of the Norwegian design collective Fold Oslo have introduced Nytt Lys, a new collection of lighting pieces that explores the creative potential of found objects, discarded materials and locally sourced natural fibres. The series consists of six unique lamp designs, each created by one of five designers from the collective. Fold Oslo, known for its dedication to responsible design and material experimentation, continues its tradition of presenting work that challenges contemporary production norms through this collection. FURNITURE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY (FDT) showcases how reusing design and material is changing the norms of mass production.

Designer Tobias Berg contributed two lamps to the collection, both developed by repurposing aluminium utensils originally intended for kitchen use. Krans, one of his pieces, is a terracotta-toned table lamp crafted from a cast aluminium baking tin. The second, Segment, is formed from an extruded aluminium knife block. The dimmable lamp retains the original block’s iconic silhouette with Berg’s refined structure with minimal interventions. Segment can be oriented in multiple ways such as standing upright, positioned horizontally or angled.

Anna Maria Ofstedal Eng developed her design Re:Frame by using demolition waste gathered from the Oslo-based material store Ombygg. Her lamp features two exposed light bulbs placed within a simple yet striking frame constructed from extruded aluminium and glass. Designer Poppy Lawman took a different route by using tiles made from reclaimed bricks, sourced from brick-repurposing company Hoine. Her lamp, titled Tegl, features strong geometric lines shaped by the salvaged brick tiles. Meanwhile, Kathrine Hovind crafted her Aria lamps using reclaimed wooden furniture legs combined with paper, transforming mundane remnants of past furniture pieces into lightweight, atmospheric lighting. 

The sixth piece in the collection comes from Fold Oslo’s newest member, Jone Myking, who created the Ariescent lamp using surplus wool sheared from Spælsau sheep in Hovden. Myking layered the untreated, coarse wool between two glass plates and illuminated it from behind using a second-hand fluorescent tube. The Nytt Lys collection debuted at Oslo’s concept store Sorgenfri during Designers’ Saturday, a major three-day design festival held in September. This exhibition joins a series of presentations by Fold Oslo at the biennial event, following earlier showcases such as Unika Auction in 2023 and Ny Normal in 2021.

Image credit: Kathrine Hovind