Despite the revelations revealed about some Japanese fisherman by a recently released dolphin based documentary the Japanese have always had a healthy love/respect of nature, and often incorporate natural motifs and elements into their design work.
Japanese designer Takao Inoue chose dandelions as the inspiration for his OLED light creations, but instead of simply making a lamp shaped like dandelions he illuminated the plants themselves, creating a visually interesting light source that's sure to drive botanists wild.
He calls these dandelion lights OLED Tampopo, and here’s how they were made:
The production process for these curious and graceful lights seems fairly difficult. First, Inoue carefully harvests a springtime dandelion, careful not to disturb its feather-light seeds. Then, the flower is sealed in a block of acrylic plastic (and how he manages to do so without capturing air bubbles is beyond me). Lastly, the OLED light is embedded inside the plant’s stem, although we haven’t figured out exactly how he does this or how the light is powered.
“Production testing could only be done during a small time in the spring of the year. Dandelions need a very long time to be encapsulated. Plus, it took a few years until I reached the quality that I liked,”
-Via Bored Panda