Willowlamp

Willowlamp is the brainchild of the design duo Adam Hoets and Sian Eliot.

Sian Eliot studied Industrial Design at the Cape Technikon and is also a jeweller.       Adam Hoets is a registered Architect who specialises in Eco Architecture.                    They industrially manufacture the elements but each lamp is painstakingly hand-assembled. Each of the hundreds of cabin strands are cut and attached by hand…..and enjoyably so if the big smiles on their staff’s faces, when we went to visit their factory, are anything to go by! It is all based upon one simple yet very ingenious idea. The idea is based on a patented method of attaching ball-chain to laser-cut steel frames via a tiny notch to form a fastener free chain curtain. The Faraway Tree design (above) was inspired by the organic, sometimes obsessively, detailed trees on Architectural drawings. Those of us in the trade can totally identify with this! Ha ha!

What I love most about Willowlamps is that they are very dynamic – every movement of air can be seen on their surface. They are so delicate looking...yet make a huge statement.

They have won numerous design awards since their inception and in 2010 were included in the ‘Global Africa Project’, a significant exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, which looks at design originating from Africa that is changing people’s perceptions about the level of art, craft and design in Africa.

Proudly South African!