Organic lamp inspired by the Chinese money plant uses frosted leaves to diffuse and scatter light

There’s a beauty in the Pilea Lamp’s lack of a definite structure. The leaves are haphazardly arranged, with a soft LED bulb just sitting between the stems like a piece of treasure on the forest floor. The way the bulb’s light weaves through the Pilea Lamp’s organic design feels a lot like watching sunlight creep through the tree branches in a forest. The lamp’s organic design has an undeniable sense of warmth and challenges the structured, engineered approach of standard light fixtures and lamp designs.

Designer: John Junior Kim

The Pilea Lamp’s design takes direct inspiration from the Chinese money plant, also known as the Pilea plant – an indoor plant often seen in contemporary Asian homes, native to the Sichuan and Yunnan regions of China. It rests on a wooden base, with dowel-style wooden stems sprouting from within. At the end of the stems are the lamp’s leaves, fashioned from diffusion filters pulled from TV screens. These filters help evenly distribute or scatter the light, making them perfect for the lamp’s purpose. Unlike most lamp designs that are centered around the bulb, which fits in a specific place, the Pilea Lamp switches things up, by focusing on a nature-inspired design, while the bulb basically tucks anywhere between the individual stems, secured in its place by them!