alexis dornier crafts intricate luminous sculptures out of banana paper

banana paper lamps by alexis dornier

Seeking to challenge the idea of conventional paper lamps, architectural designer Alexis Dornier developed a collection of luminous sculptures made out of banana paper.

After visiting a small factory run by a Japanese paper maker, Dornier was captivated by the intimate production process and the qualities of the handcrafted raw material, and thus motivated to create something out of paper. In this project, which is called ‘Tamashī Jiwa – the souls of space’, he translates the concept of comfort and tenderness into a series of intricate lighting pieces. The objects are all made and assembled in Bali from worked-up fibers of banana trees.

all images by Pete Kamynin

transforming everyday elements into luminous sculptures

The inspiring backbone of the ‘Tamash Jiwa – the souls of space’ initiative is clothing and bedding made from banana plant fibers. More specifically, Alexis Dornier (see more here) employed everyday, useful things like down coats, blankets, and filled pillows as the cells of his illuminated sculptures. The different elements are sewn and knitted together and mixed to produce their dominant character. The seams bring rhythm and melody to each piece, and the threads that connect them pay homage to the actual fiber of the paper itself – holding itself together.

The driving premise for conceiving multiple items differing in size and dimension is the principle of merging cells, packed with translucent poleurethane wool from recycled plastic. The racks that carry the translucent forms are built in the same way as the counterpart – slim, dematerialized, black, reductive, and graphical, they emphasize the lightness. Through the art of handcrafted Japanese paper crafting, the down jacket is transformed into an illuminated item.

combining intuition and rationality

Alexis Dornier is equally passionate about intuition and ‘lucky accidents’, which he likes to integrate into the rational story of a project or task. ‘Just like the mind and the heart are an inseparable amalgam that constitutes us humans, Alexis brings the Rational and the Intuitive into one selected snapshot’, shares theTamashī Jiwa team. Through tireless discussion, experimentation, and countless iterations he, at last, arrives at the most suitable result.

The architectural designer depicts craftsmanship, especially the skill of thoughtful joinery, as an integral part of anything being made – beyond sign, gesture, and symbol. The atmosphere of spaces becomes eminent by the objects that those spaces carry and become their souls. They are fixed stars on the firmament of built environments. Lighting fixtures and sculptures are among those objects.