Donkey & Friends
A menagerie of 3D-rendered, DIY paper lamps from an Austrian creative firm
After studying architecture together at the Vienna University of Technology, friends and designers Maik Perfahl and Wolfgang List went their separate ways. List continued his architectural education, working for different firms and focusing on interiors, while Perfahl decided to translate his interest in architecture into a degree in 3D design and visualization. The friends reunited soon afterward, forming their own firm, MOSTLIKELY, with three other colleagues. Poised at the intersection between design, architecture and 3D printing, MOSTLIKELY focuses on testing the bounds between the different disciplines. Most recently they have launched a line of paper lamps known as Donkey & Friends, which come flat for users to assemble themselves.
Donkey & Friends’ products provide the ultimate example of old technologies being merged with new ones—each lamp is conceived as a complicated 3D rendering that is then translated into a flat, paper printout that must be cut, folded and glued in order to bring the animal figures to life. Designed to engage the recipient almost like a puzzle, the lamps turn consumers into creators.
Using the same principles as the lamp shades, List and Perfahl also constructed a large-scale basilisk composed of 360 folded paper pieces that consumed an entire warehouse space for Vienna Design Week 2012. An ode to the Viennese legend of the basilisk, the exhibition helped the designers launch their brand and showcase the beauty and potential behind rendering 3D creations out of low-tech, recyclable materials like paper.
The designers are currently in the process of adding new animals to the already extensive Donkey & Friends menagerie, which includes a cat, owl and penguin. Looking forward, MOSTLIKELY plans to launch a new line of higher-end lamps based on the Donkey and Friends collection at the upcoming design fair in Milan.
To purchase one of Donkey & Friends’ illuminated creations visit their Etsy store where each lamp sells for approximately $48. If you want to find out more about MOSTLIKELY and stay up to date with their upcoming projects check out their website.
Images courtesy of MOSTLIKELY
