issey miyake presents his IN EI lighting collection for artemide

issey miyake presents his IN EI lighting collection for artemide image © designboom

exhibited at milan design week 2012, ‘IN-EI’ is a collection of sustainably designed, foldable lampshades developed by japanese fashion designer issey miyake for italian lighting producers artemide. the project is named after the japanese word translatable as ‘shadow’, ‘shade’, and ‘nuance’, and the pieces are all folded textile pieces that extend into lamp shapes, causing a play of light and shadow through layering. the project represents a continuation of the ‘132 5. issey miyake’ 2D/3D folded clothing design research undertaken by miyake’s reality lab.

‘IN-EI tr 011’, front view 50cm x 48cm x 44cm (LWH) image © designboom

each of ten lamp designs utilizes special fabric derived from recycled PET bottles, processed using an innovative technology that reduces both energy consumption and CO2 emissions up to 80% when compared to the production of new materials. the designs are created using 2D and 3D mathematical principals to define their shape and extent of light shading.

‘IN-EI tr011’, detail on folds image © designboom

alternative views of the shell-like structure of ‘IN-EI tr011’

‘IN-EI tr 011’, process of unfolding the lamp from its collapsed form

detail view of the fiber material used for the series image © designboom

‘IN-EI sq 004 s’ 26cm x 26cm x 43cm (LWH) image © designboom

‘IN-EI sq 004 s’, additional view image © designboom

‘IN-EI sq 004 s’, partially collapsed (left) and unfolded (right) images © designboom

‘IN-EI sq 004 s’, looking down into the collapsed form image © designboom

‘IN-EI tr 008’ 52cm x 48cm (DH) image © designboom

‘IN-EI he 016’ 61.5cm x 57cm (DH) image © designboom

although the lamps vary in their total wattage, all use LEDs and generate warm white light at 3000K.

‘IN-EI sq 018’ 45 cm x 45 cm x 35.5 cm (LWH)

  installation view during milan design week 2012 from left to right: ‘in-ei oc 013 sospensione’, ‘IN-EI he 016’, ‘IN-EI tr 010’ image © designboom

left: ‘IN-EI oc 013 terra’, 62cm x 30cm x 210cm (DWH) right: ‘IN-EI tr 010’, 37 cm x 151 cm (DH) left image © designboom

the ‘IN-EI tr 011’ light by issey miyake for artemide at the UK launch of the collection

a special installation of issey miyake’s lights were displayed in his london flagship store to celebrate the occasion

views of the special ‘IN-EI’ lighting installation presented in celebration of the collection’s UK debut

the lamp designs permeate the fruits of issey miyake’s renowned fashion enterprise

update: we have updated our original article published on may 6th, 2012 – march 7th, 2013 has been the official UK launch of the ‘IN-EI’ issey miyake lamps presented in a special installation, at the issey miyake flagship store in london (52 conduit street), on until march 30th, 2013. see below for images of the lighting pieces on display within the retail space.