Brilliant Lamps From Recycled Drink Cartons

The Malaysian native designed and constructed TetraBox Lamp from empty Tetra Brik boxes, a popular Malaysian soft drink that comes in a rectangular packet. The development process reminds us of elementary school craft projects that reused just about anything the art teachers could get their hands on. But Ed Chew’s upcycle project is so beautiful that it puts our milk carton creations to shame.

The TetraBox Spherical Lamp required approximately 450 empty soft drink packets and is 260mm in diameter. The boxes were unfolded and then transformed into 108 hexagons by cutting 6 strips of 6 squares, each 130mm x 21mm, to form a triangle and 6 strips of 4 squares, 76mm x 19mm, that act as knots to hold them all together. The lamp required an additional 12 pentagons made up of 5 strips of 5 squares, each 115mm x 21. The pentagon knots are 5 strips of 4 squares, at 76mm x 15mm. The end result is a beautiful masterpiece that illuminates light in breath-taking patterns.

Like many designers Ed Chew is attempting to do his part to make our world more sustainable. He feels his design could help reduce what ends up in landfills and encourages others to tap into the creative sides and try building something on their own or even collectively. “Imagine if each of us were to turn the empty boxes after each quench into a hexagon, and collectively knot them together, what possibly could we achieve?” says Chew. “We could possibly achieve building a spherical pavilion as big as a house!”