Freedom Tower Lamp
Lamp design and fabrication
2018
Designed a lighting device from only 2D cardboard structural slices. This lamp is modeled after the Freedom Tower at One World Trade Center. The lighting pattern is set to mimic the offices having lights on at night. The spire is extended with the last LED light- an homage to the original design. The light atop the structure is intended to instill a sense of hope above all, as the real building is the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere.
Ideation and Planning
I started brainstorming light source ideas that could instill a sense of light in darkness. Naturally, I started in the realm of superheroes and ended up thinking of New York City, home to many heroes. The design I pursued was ultimately the Freedom Tower, as I think its intentional design leaves onlookers in wonder. It intentionally looks like it ascends to infinity when you stand close by. So I chose to have lights ascending the building and one light on top, to symbolize hope and happiness through time.
Construction Process
To made the structure from 2D cardboard slices, I uploaded a model of the tower to Slicer for Fusion 360. In Slicer, I noticed the top spire and disc were oddly shaped due to the tower's large length to width ratio, so I remodeled them to make simpler shapes.
I cut a first set of tower slices, but these had slots that were much too small. To adjust for this. I iterated on the Slicer settings for a small box until finding settings that had a snug but slightly loose fit. This was to make assembly slightly easier but also have the tower be rigid. Also in my first iteration, I noticed that the base would be too small to support the tower, so I added a base of my own in the model for tipping support.
While laser-cutting the parts from cardboard, I had to lay down tape to support the cardboard to prevent the sheet from bending upward. In Slicer, there are automated assembly instructions that I followed to construct the tower.
I played with several light source combinations, such as inidvidual LEDs both controlled by Arduino and with just a battery input, but I ultimately chose the LED strip with a battery case, to allow the power source to be in the tower securely. This was another symbolic choice, as I want the tower to stand and be powered without external sources as a representation of freedom.
