Soft Solids by Daydreaming Objects is a striking collection of home and lifestyle objects that combines plant-based wax with carefully upcycled vintage luminaire components. Each piece is crafted by hand, resulting in sculptural, modular lighting and design objects that merge sustainability with thoughtful craftsmanship.
The collection demonstrates how designers can work responsibly with materials, creating pieces that are visually compelling, tactile, and environmentally conscious.
Material Innovation and Modular Design
Soft Solids uses a mix of soy wax and stearin to form the core of each object. The wax is poured and shaped into modular units that can be combined in multiple configurations. These soft modules are paired with components salvaged from vintage lighting fixtures, including metal fittings, glass elements, and structural parts, giving new life to hardware that might otherwise remain unused.
The modular system allows users to stack, arrange, and adapt the pieces for different purposes. Some act as lamps, others as sculptural objects or functional home items. The variation in wax density and translucency ensures each object is unique, offering both aesthetic warmth and a quiet, soft presence in interior spaces.
A Thoughtful Approach to Making
The production process emphasizes low-impact methods. Each wax module is hand-poured, shaped, and polished, while the vintage luminaire elements are carefully cleaned, restored, and integrated. This approach avoids the energy-intensive processes of mass manufacturing while encouraging designers and collectors to consider material longevity and reuse.
Soft Solids exemplifies regenerative design principles, showing how a focus on adaptable materials and circular design can reduce waste, even without relying on traditional recycling streams. The objects are not only decorative but also functional, connecting the end user with the design process in a subtle, meaningful way.
The Bigger Picture
Projects like Soft Solids highlight new possibilities for sustainable product design. By blending renewable materials with upcycled components, designers can create objects that are both beautiful and responsible. The collection encourages a mindset where materials are valued, reused, and thoughtfully considered, rather than discarded after one use.
Soft Solids also inspires innovation in material-driven design. It demonstrates that sustainability can be achieved through small-scale, hands-on craftsmanship that respects both the planet and the integrity of design.
Images courtesy of Daydreaming Objects. Photography by Norbert Tukaj.
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