When suspended, this hanging lamp is an opal glass ball fading from a sandy matte finish, to a shiny transparent finish at the bottom. The small curvature that rounds out the lampshade is a necessary detail suggestive of how it was made, through the technical procedure of glassblowing. This element breaks up the geometry of the spherical shape and from certain angles, the bottom curvature generates a sense that there is a double source of light.
Berlin-based product designer Uli Budde studied both at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam Germany and the Design Academy Eindhoven. He worked as a freelance designer for various studios in the Netherlands and in 2005 he co-founded Officeoriginair together with Dutch designer Ivan Kasner.
Even given the collaboration, Uli Budde works independently from his Berlin studio in Berlin concentrating on projects ranging from furniture, tableware and lighting. The work of Uli Budde investigates the well-known everyday object, finding new solutions to transform the familiar in a thoughtful and functional way. His projects with Officeoriginair are honored with different awards like the Dutch Design Award, the Gio Award, two Red Dot Awards in 2012 and the Design Plus Award 2014. In 2010 and 2011 Uli Budde received the Faces of Design Award.