Tideborne
A Layered Glass Ambient Lamp
Wenzhou Kean University
Student Project - Individual Work
September - December, 2022
Tideborne is an ambient lighting concept inspired by the quiet rhythm of tides and the layered silhouettes of distant landscapes. Originally titled “共潮生,” the project explores the poetic relationship between light, material, and movement—imagining illumination as something that rises, shifts, and breathes with its surroundings.
The design began with a line of poetry and the image of light emerging between mountains and water. Overlapping ridgelines, ocean waves, mist, and the warmth of a setting sun were translated into a series of undulating glass profiles. Together, these layers form a small luminous landscape.
Instead of using glass as a simple enclosure, Tideborne treats it as an active medium for shaping light. As illumination passes through multiple translucent surfaces, it is refracted, softened, and gradually colored. Each layer changes the one behind it, creating a sense of depth that shifts with the viewer’s position.
