2026

Deep Ocean Lamp

Shown at NYCxDESIGN: SHINE Exhibition, New York, NY, USA

‘Deep Ocean Lamp’ projects red and blue colors onto the surrounding space in a geometric pattern based on Buckminster Fuller’s “Jitterbug” geometry. The lamp consists of layers of colored acrylic, a 3D-printed stainless steel structure, and an internal LED light source.

Photography by Trey Thomas

This lamp is a physical manifestation of SINCLAIR COLLECTIVE's previous research on the deep ocean, conducted within the Applied Underwater Robotics Laboratory of NTNU in Trondheim, Norway. The 3D-printed stainless steel structure of the lamp echoes Buckminster Fuller's Jitterbug geometry—following three steps in the geometric transformation from octahedron to cuboctahedron—which has a blooming dynamic in tune with the fluidity of deep ocean space.

Red and blue acrylic sheets animate the vector equilibrium transformation and project colors outwards. Blue light wavelengths travel farthest in the deep ocean, making red objects appear black. This light and the colors it projects onto the wall are counterintuitive: inspired by a space without light, yet colorful. Warm in tone, yet also cold.

Digital fabrication techniques —including digital modeling, laser cutting, nylon additive printing, and metal 3D-printing—were utilized to prototype and produce the object.

SINCLAIR COLLECTIVE Co-Director T. Craig Sinclair comments, “In our design, we wanted to produce an experience of light. While the Jitterbug also forms a cool object, the lamp is meant to perform, transforming the space through its projections, while reflecting on the physical interaction between the colors red and blue.”