Simon Skinner arranges unwanted glassware like flowers to create Buké lamps
Second-hand bowls, ashtrays and cat figurines are stacked on top of each other to form these sculptural lights by Swedish designer Simon Skinner, on show this week as part of Stockholm Creative Edition.
The glassware was scavenged from charity shops and flea markets and Frankenstein-ed together to create 20 different lamps in a process that Skinner likens to playing with Lego or arranging flowers – hence the name Buké, like bouquet.
"It's inspired by the art of flower arrangements and the way flowers are picked and put together in different compositions," he told Dezeen.
"I feel like it's a similar process," the designer added. "It's about contrasts and finding balance and harmony in between them."
The lamps form part of Skinner's ongoing Buké series, in which he repurposes familiar, traditional glassware and combines it into unexpected shapes.
This way, a floral etched bowl might be turned upside down to form a lampshade, with an ashtray added on top to serve as an integrated incense holder.
Or a tiny cat sculpture, which could be considered tacky under other circumstances, might be placed on top of a simple, angular bowl with a perfectly proportioned vase serving as the base.
"If you're from Sweden, you would recognise many of these pieces," Skinner said. "Maybe your grandmother had them in her home."
"So taking them and putting them in a contemporary context – that's what I find interesting," he added. "It's exploring collective memory and how it transforms over time."
All of the glassware is sandblasted from either the inside or the outside to unify these disparate parts into a cohesive whole, while simultaneously covering up the bulb.
Which side gets sandblasted is determined entirely by the existing state of the glass, with the soft matte finish used to cover up any scruffs and scratches that were sustained over the years.
"When you work with repurposed material, then you have to follow what the material tells you to do," Skinner said.
The project is a meditation on how the meaning of objects is changed and abstracted over time – something the designer previously explored with his Afropicks project.
Buké is on show from 3 to 5 February as part of The Building exhibition for Stockholm Creative Edition.
The festival, which usually takes place in May, has been moved forward this year to coincide with Stockholm's unofficial design festival, a grassroots initiative spearheaded by local designers and brands after the Stockholm Furniture Fair and its associated design week were cancelled.
The photography is by Gustav Almestål unless otherwise stated.
Stockholm Creative Edition 2026 takes place from 3 to 7 February 2026 at various locations across Stockholm, Sweden. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
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