Nopales Lampa by Sebastian Morales and Tiri Kananuruk

Nopales Lampa by Sebastian Morales and Tiri Kananuruk is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2024 A' Design Award de Bronze in Engenhariá Competition Category.

BronzeEngenhariá· 2024

Nopales Lampa

by Sebastian Morales and Tiri Kananuruk

Client: Morakana

A' Design Award de Bronze Winner in Engenhariá Category

55,863

Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #156665

Visit Site View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Nopales Lampa

Nopales es una lampa modulara que se liura plana coma una Placa de Circuit Imprimit (PCI) e pòt facilament èsser rompuda en tròces a la man. Las pèças que s'emboitan se clican puèi ensems per se transformar en un bèl cactús en 3D. Inspirat dels paisatges mexicans, lo disseny jogairós pòt èsser assemblat de dotzenas de manièras diferentas e pòt tanben créisser en combinant mantunas cartas. Aqueste Nopal non solament illumina los espacis amb una lusor dobla, mas tanben favorisa una connexion personala, en convidant los utilizaires a devenir cocreadors dins lor pròpri jardin luminós.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Bronze

Nopales Lampa a ganhat la distincion A' Design Award de Bronze, una reconeissença plan prestigiosa acordada a de designs excellents que se destrian per la creativitat, l'engenh e la finessa. Los ganhaires del Bronze son d'artefactes largament abils e sorprenentament creatius que provan la vasta experiéncia, l'imaginacion e l'engenhositat de lors designers. S'espèra que Nopales Lampa siá un objècte fòrça considerat, admirat e estimat, notablament professional e innovant. Aqueste design ganhaire de la distincion A' Design Award de Bronze integra las melhoras practicas de l'art, de la sciéncia, del design e de la tecnologia e es excellent per son atencion al detalh. Nopales Lampa satisfa esplendidament los besonhs, toca los desirs, encanta los sentiments e interèssa la curiositat.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Nopales is a modular lamp designed to be playfully assembled from a single Printed Circuit Board. Unlike typical PCBs that are flat and hidden inside enclosures, Nopales subverts this industrial nature to create a delightful object that is meant to be touched, bring joy, and evoke life into our spaces. It can ship flat as a postcard and can be hand assembled into your own nopal. Grow you cactus by combining cards.
Dimensions & Packaging: Variable dimensions
Flat: 84mmx125mmx5mm
Assembled: 50mm x50mm x100
Tags: PCB, Lamp, Nopales, Cactus, Modular, Mexico, Art, Garden
Production Technology: Printed Circuit Board, LEDs, Microcontroller, CR2032 Battery
Design Challenge: The project looks deceptively simple but a lot of research has gone into the interlocking connections. Even when PCB manufacturing is a mature industry, there is no way to connect two boards in the ways we were searching for. Current solutions require bulky mechanical components "connectors", or to be solder. We have tried multiple approaches and worked with the PCB manufacturer though iterations. Orienting components in different planes, plating surface edges, special routing, springs, and more.
Inspiration: Nopales was inspired by the landscapes of my Mexican upbringing and our passion for developing creative hardware. We wanted to reframe Printed Circuit Boards (PCB)s beyond their technical existence, to expose the material's beauty and transform it into something tactile, delightful and captivating. We spent months working with manufacturers to create a simple and efficient way to interlock the PCBs both mechanically and electrically. Nopales circuit is designed to shine for months or even years.
Project Duration: The project started early 2023 and exhibited at the HeadHi Lamp show in Brooklyn NY from March until July. A new updated version was shown at PioneerWorks Software For Artists Day in November.
Operation Flow: Nopales starts as a flat PCB that breaks apart by hand and can be interlocked into your own Nopal (cactus), then you can press the button to cycle though multiple brightness levels. It has an auto sleep timer to prevent draining the battery in case you forget to turn it off.
Team Members: Sebastian Morales
Tiri Kananuruk
Image Credits: MORAKANA LLC