Hasta La Gadget!

Take some PVC pipe and connectors, an stack of old soda bottles and a few bits from the shelves of the hardware store electrical department and what do you have? That’s right: The Ugly Duckling Lamp, a DIY light-stand that transcends its cast-off componentry to make a beautiful swan-necked fixture.

The lights, conceived by Hong Kong-based designer Kamric To, are even more ingenious one you get up close. The shades, for example, are chopped-down PET bottles (painted or not), but with the lids perforated to slip over the lightbulb-holder, the “shade” itself can screw on and off, exactly like the threaded locking-ring on a store-bought fixture. My favorite part, though, is the power-switch (of course). Tucked into a T-section on the end of the lamp’s base, the power-switch is held snugly in one side of the T, while the power-cable trails from the other. Neat.

This looks like the ultimate student project, giving you Ikea-like results at even lower prices (although if you don’t visit the Swedish superstore, you’ll miss out on the cheap hotdogs and meatballs, themselves essential student fare).

Kamric To Ugly Duckling [Design Boom]

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