WIDN blog

This light chandelier was carefully constructed by the Propellor Design studio, based in Canada, and given the surprisingly dead-pan name ‘DRAM.’ The small team lovingly nurtured the project over four years by salvaging 120 disused tumblers and drinking glasses.

So, what looks at first glance something similar to a child’s attempt at art aided with re-used junk from the basement definitely deserves better attention. It demonstrated what can be achieved from inanimate objects and the possibilities of lighting design.

They told me, “We have been collecting the vintage glasses for this series for the last four years. We find them one or two at a time in thrift stores, at garage sales and occasionally our friends will drag them out of the recesses of their kitchen cupboards for us. It takes about a year to find enough glasses to complete a piece and each one is completely unique.”

The project was launched at the Radiant Dark show in Toronto which opened in Toronto, February 4th. See http://www.madedesign.ca/radiantdark/main.html

Radiant Dark was an exploration of the relationships between elegance and corruption and I thought nothing could be quite as apt as a chandelier devised from discarded glasses.

The story of the Dram chandelier doesn’t end there, in fact the Canadian design studio is working on a whole Dram series which will use glasses in shades of blue and green and a clear glass version is in the works as well.