VAPOR by Pieke Bergmans

A highlight from the Dutch Design Week, Vapor II explores the most common of materials through the rediscovery and re-interpretation of an ancient technique. Amsterdam designer Pieke Bergmans delivered plastic lighting installations shaped through a technique similar to glass blowing, suggesting the landmark for further developments.

The way gas or smoke dissolves has inspired the name of the collection, constituted by lighting objects to be hung from the ceiling. The designer experimented with rapidly inflating the PVC plastic, so to develop free forms and unpredictable solutions. The final result consists of six meters-long floating, translucent bodies fading to almost no substance, whilst their degrading colour enhances the immaterial effect.

One group of objects have been extruded into twisting, rippled pipes with a light bulb illuminating them from within. Another series is made by blowing air into the plastic until it stretches into a delicate, translucent tube at one end. 

By refusing process as the behind-the-scenes of a finished project, Bergmans explores the possibility of organic growth and adaptability to the environment.

The collection follows Bergmans’ previous experiments with glass blowing, which included her hand-blown organically-shaped light bulbs and a series of polished bronze objects with blown-glass lamps spilling out of them, designed in collaboration with Studio Job.

Pieke Bergmans (1978) is a free-lance Dutch designer. She graduated under Ron Arad at the Royal College of Art in London, Master of Art and works with porcelain, plastic and glass. Her modus operandi consists in altering existing production processes to create new forms and functions.


VAPOR by Pieke Bergmans

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VAPOR by Pieke Bergmans