TSUBOMI by Kazuhiro Yamanaka Office, designed by KAZUHIRO YAMANAKA

By opening the vacuum-packed flat pack from its folded state and standing it up by hand, air enters through the holes at the bottom, allowing the lamp to stand on its own without any support, other than paper. The flat-pack design not only makes transportation highly efficient, reducing volume and packaging needs, but also enhances the interactive experience of unfolding the lamp.

The wrinkles formed in the folded state create a unique and captivating texture, which becomes even more expressive when illuminated. The paper is a special plastic compound traditionally used in Japanese shoji screens – a door, window, or room divider consisting of translucent sheets mounted on a lattice frame. TSUBOMI is lightweight and can retain various “imperfect” shapes, depending on how it unfolds, celebrating the beauty of asymmetry and unpredictability rather than adhering to a perfect form. The paper may be plain or gridded, with the grid emphasizing the wrinkled texture. Colored grids tint the light and softly color the surface below, enhancing the lamp’s dynamic presence. The lamp is named TSUBOMI, which means “bud” in Japanese, symbolizing growth, potential, and transformation.