Sweet as Honey: Rassadin’s Beehouse Lamp

As yet, the Beehouse Lamp is a concept—sort of like a honeybee without a hive. Devised by Russian product designer Yar Rassadin, the Beehouse Lamp “is a combination of natural bee’s building process and crystal technology.” To embody honey into Swarovsky crystals is a lovely manipulation of the organic into the plastic. But this type of combination makes sense, since Rassadin’s design philosophy includes “using simple emotional ideas,” as well as “combining radically different things.”

Intended to be constructed of white plastic and Swarovsky crystals, the Beehouse Lamp takes advantage of simplicity to achieve a great effect. In this way, the Beehouse Lamp echoes the honeycomb’s geometry: composed of hexagons, the honeycomb is said to use the least material to create cells within a given volume. (For a more thorough examination of the honeycomb’s structure, look at the design philosophy behind the Beijing Aquatics Center.) The lattice produced glistens with an amber-colored sweetness, a color at once subtle and striking—dare I say, nectar of the gods? Rassadin’s use of honey-colored crystals intensifies the honeycomb’s hue, but the light emitting from within the pendant softens the crystal’s color. The lighting design, then, works in conjunction with function: Rassadin has not forgotten that a lamp must not only be a beautiful object; it must also emit and manipulate light.

The cylindrical shape contributes to the Beehouse Lamp’s mathematical form. However, the irregular edges at the top and bottom of the lamp recall the raw object that inspired the design. And the fact that Rassadin includes empty honeycombs emphasizes the irregularity and unpredictability of nature. Here, the negative spaces serve to highlight the juxtaposed crystal-filled octagons. The Beehouse Lamp is looking for a manufacturer. Once it makes its way into the three-dimensional world, it should travel from Russia to Vienna’s Hotel Am Stephansplatz—whose renovated design features a perfect mix of the earthy and modern.