blurb
The 3D-printed lights by outil.li prove that sustainable design can be both playful and practical. Crafted using bio-based plastics and small-scale digital production methods, these lights don't just illuminate a space, they embody a new way of thinking about design, making, and consumption. Inspired by the boldness of Sottsass and the clarity of Rams, outil.li explores how local, flexible, and responsible production can lead to high-quality, joyful objects. Each light is a testament to the beauty of simultaneously thinking and making, a process that allows for deep consideration of form, function, and sustainability.
story
outil.li started with two friends designing a lamp above a diner table. The company embodies their 15+ years passion for Industrial Design & fabrication. And in an equal amount their disillusionment with the existing system of production & consumption and the oversized burden it inflicts on our environment.
So in the Old North of Rotterdam they design with self imposed scarcity. An approach they hope might help to one day find a way to make pretty, everyday things within the boundaries of our planet. The main tool to allow this is FDM 3D printing. The kind of printing that can stack a polymer thread endlessly in an endless variety of shapes . Its beauty lays in its humility, but the benefits are significant.
Firstly, there is no wasted material. secondly, material can be locally sourced, biobased, reused & decomposable. thirdly, it uses limited amounts of energy and can solely run on the renewable kind. fourthly, it scales endlessly anywhere.
And lastly, it allows concurrent making and thinking, blurring the lines between development & manufacturing. Allowing continuous noodling, fuzzing & sweating the details towards better and better products. Products that are made for circularity, for disassembly, for repair and reuse. Products that gain a new aesthetic along the way.
Their first lamp, the cocon pendant got a functional companion, the dial. A temptingly, tangible, tabletop light control that dims and adjusts temperature of any lamp. Ensuring light suits both the focus required for your newspaper and the cosy atmosphere of a shared glass of wine. The second lamp, the jello pendant, creates a unique atmosphere through its encapsulated totems of light & enigmatic colourful modularity.
Grounded in a philosophy of scarcity outil.li continues to develop new lamps for a broad context. Close cooperation with others allows for a development of new perspectives, ideas and aesthetics. In this way the company organically & incrementally evolves process, product & itself to more joyous, equitably made versions that hopefully also delight you.
