Willem Heeffer’s boiler lamp collection is the first element of his new project The City as a Mine.
This research project explores potential uses for various residue from local factories in Helsinki. It will result in a series of interior objects as well as an extensive catalog of industrial waste materials, including information about their specific properties and production methods. The aim is to turn trash into a resource into treasures – letting Heeffer’s recycled products pave the way for a larger movement.
The boiler lamp collection consists of pendants and floor lamps made out of boilers from discarded espresso machines. It is a collaboration with the Paulig coffee factory. After ten years of producing coffee, the boilers are finally transformed into lamps, each tagged with the name and the serial number of the machine where they originate from. In fact, the first boilers in the collection had barely left the factory when Paulig decided to purchase them back as lamps.
Heeffer’s copper boiler lamps come with a matt powder coating on the exterior, which contrasts with the shimmering bead blasted finish inside. The shades measure 18 cm in diameter and are available in various heights. They present playful, asymmetrical hole formations, based on the original piping. The floor lamps and the smaller steel pendants are also powder coated with a matte finish. Likewise, their brass nuts and fittings derive from their roots in the field of coffee making.
