make your own ikea dna lamp

seeing this hopf & wortmann dna lamp, available from next [via design*sponge and reluct], i had an “aha” moment. i remembered seeing a similar lamp hack at boingboing – the fractal chandelier from sean michael ragan. with a few adapters and energy saving bulbs from ikea, you can stamp your very own dna on this lamp. except, maybe, you can’t get it in pretty pink.

sean explains, “this is a suspended light fixture ‘grown’ from 31 nested twin-lamp socket adapters. 32 7.5 watt bulbs draw a total of 240 watts. all the adapters and fixtures are rated for 660 watts, so this figure is well within the safety range. 15 watt bulbs would also be acceptable, and would generate more light. as it is, the fixture puts off very little heat. you can put your finger on the surface of one of these tiny bulbs for an indefinite period of time without experiencing any serious discomfort.

the chandelier is essentially a binary tree in 3-space. it is symmetrical, with each adapter, except the top one, being positioned at a 90-degree angle relative to the axis of its parent. after assembly, a drop of cyanoacrylate glue was applied to the junction of each pair of adapters to keep the structure from deforming if the chandelier is moved or jostled.”

simply electrifying. for full instructions, click here.

(update! and so it seems there is a little hoo-ha going on about who first designed the dna lamp. michael silverberg from metropolis wrote to apartment therapy to clear the haze. as much a hacker as i am, i think it is important to know the origins of a design and give due credit. so, it’s irving harper, people. link.)
tags: ikea, dna lamp, lighting, how-to, sean michael ragan