Katrín Svana Eyþórsdóttir 's Chandelier is slow design at its sweetest. A cascade of thousands of highly reflective glucose droplets, this magnificent light source requires no electricity. The highly reflective nature of the material draws in ambient light and refracts it back out from the object, casting a subtle, warm glow.

Unlike most designed objects, which strive to convey durability, Eyþórsdóttir's Chandelier is explicitly designed for ephemerality, lasting only up to three months (perhaps even less if one's local insects opt to collaborate on the project). The very lightness of the physical form suggests an ephemerality as well, appearing and disappearing as the light around it changes. Eyþórsdóttir says, "It hardly exists, yet it's there."

The short but rich life span of the project induces what slowLab has coined 'reflective consumption'-- a state of awareness and deliberate contemplation of the object's attributes, functionality and, not least, it presence in one's life. This is not a design object that one buys before leaving on a two week holiday. It is something to be savoured for every moment of its existence.

Katrin Svana's flickr stream >