Together with designer Aga Blonska, we created One Made of Many, a 3D-printed lamp inspired by Siphonophores: remarkable marine organisms that exist through the collective effort of many individual organisms.
As Aga Blonska says: “The idea became the foundation for both the form and the material. The lamp is made from PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a family of bio-based polymers produced by bacteria through fermentation of renewable resources such as sugars and lipids. In other words: bacteria grow the material that eventually becomes the lamp.”
Light passes through its solid forms, revealing the story of the microscopic life that helped create the material.
But the story doesn’t end when the lamp reaches the end of its useful life. Under suitable conditions, PHA can biodegrade and return to the soil, becoming part of another cycle of life. From bacteria, to material, to designer, to production, to use and eventually to its afterlife. One Made of Many follows a continuous chain of relationships.
This makes the lamp especially at home in Embodied Energy, Vibrant relations, the group exhibition at Kazerne Designlab, in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week 2026.
The exhibition brings together the work of more than 50 emerging and established designers, exploring the visible and invisible relationships behind the objects around us, the materials, energy, labour and natural processes that shape them and what they may become next.
For us, OMOM is a reminder that systems change through collaboration. Nature works this way too: multiple organisms, processes and conditions come together to create something that none of them could achieve alone. Sustainability is therefor not simply about finding a better material. it is about designing better relationships between people, companies, materials and the ecosystems we are part of.
One made of many, many working toward one shared future.
*this has been made possible by ColorFabb how generously supported us with this innovative PHA material.