Zapalgo is a creative designers group from Warsaw, Poland. In their work they focus mainly on lighting design, but also they create extraordinary furniture and home accessories. When looking for new ideas, they like to mix and match different styles, as well as reach for inspiration to other areas of life. This time they went for a long journey into nooks and crannies of Japanese design art – in particular its magnificent art of joinery and traditional origami technique.

The genius behind Japanese carpentry hides in the simple fact that all the wooden things, tables, beds, chairs, stairs – lets go even further – homes, temples and buildings were made without any nails. This special and surely uncommon practice was possible because of the puzzle-like techniques of assembly. Such an idea accompanied Zapalgo during creation of Yamato floor lamp. Construction of this lamp was deliberately based on equilateral triangle. Firstly, the figure was placed thrice each time rotated by 120 degrees.

Secondly, this rotation was brought to life by rearranging it in height and by expressing it in natural materials: pure metals and natural wood. Such construction is extraordinary because it enabled Zapalgo to create a lamp without using any screws, welds or glue. As in Japanese art of joinery, Yamato is held together only by its existence – puzzle-like manufacturing methods and gravity work together to guarantee the construction won’t fall apart.

Similar principles can be found in the art of origami. Using any drastic methods of connecting parts, anything that could destroy the source material, is forbidden, as if it would destroy its soul. With this respect Zapalgo created Origamo, a metal giraffe figurine for minimalistic apartment decoration. The principles are the same as in origami, but instead of paper, Zapalgo used a very thick sheet of pure metal – brass or copper – as a base source to create this little sculpture. In addition, the metal can be finished with hand-applied patinas based on traditional recipes. In this way, Zapalgo creates an unusual, marble-like „Aged Copper” finish or unique, structural „Turquoise Patina” finish. The effect is outstanding – a minimalist figurine, created with just a couple of folds.

Designed by Zapalgo