French designers have created a mood lamp, Nuclée, made from discarded banana fibre and inspired by indigenous crafts wisdom.

Banana flesh, which is usually discarded as a waste material during extraction, was used to create the Nuclée lamp, which features a pendant made from a stabilised version of the plant tissue and set within a curved bamboo frame.

Nuclée was imagined and produced in Taiwan, during a six-month residency at the National Taiwan Craft Research Institute (N.T.C.R.I.) by two French designers, Dorian Etienne and Cordélia Faure.

Dorian Etienne said: “We were interested in this material and we found it a fascinating graphics in the light. The banana flesh, big waste from this traditional extraction, reveals a fascinating graphic in the light.

“By a particular refining technique, this plant tissue is stabilised in a colour range from white to dark brown. This new material is sublimated here in curved bamboo shapes, inspired by the banana tree structure.”

The Kavalan indigenous tribe, settled near Hualien on the east coast of Taiwan, have long been using banana fibres to make traditional clothing, bags and containers. Dorian Etienne spent time with the elders of the Kavalan tribe to learn the ancestral techniques of using the plant.

The design recently won a Green Product Award in the Green Concepts 2021 category.

Images Credit: Dorian Etienne

Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyles including sustainable and green living