One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Lamp: Matteo de Colle's Upcycled Lighting

One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Lamp: Matteo de Colle's Upcycled Lighting:

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Earlier this summer, we took a look at recycling, the good ol' fashioned way, as well as a couple variations on upcycled lamps. This is precisely the obsession of Italian designer Matteo de Colle, who crafts lamps from discarded plastic bottles of every shape and size:

Opening a recycling bin for plastic reminds me of a soap opera: familiar characters, different combinations each day. In fact, most of the plastic bottles you see in a bin are very common: you are well acquainted with them from countless occasional encounters. Seeing them down there, in the dark, still beautiful and ripe with possibilities...



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It certainly isn't rocket science—frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if these were the result of a school project gone wild—and some are certainly more successful than others, though credit to de Colle for conceiving some truly elegant forms.



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