Traditional basket weaving exists all over the world, from Japan to Ethiopia, but in northern Ghana, it’s woven especially tightly into everyday life. The remote town of Bolgatanga, often called the “city of baskets,” is known for its skilled artisan communities, where the craft supports local economies and carries generations of knowledge.
When Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán de Ocón first visited the region in 2019, he set out to learn from and collaborate with the local makers. The exchange led to a series of contemporary lamp collections woven by master artisans from The Baba Tree Basket Company. The ongoing project, PET Lamp, combines traditional techniques with recycled plastic bottles, transforming waste into design while supporting local communities.
One recent collection from 2023, Gurunsi, is named after the Gurunsi people of Bolgatanga. It draws on Frafra weaving traditions as well as the architectural forms of northern Ghana, with patterns that echo the adobe-and-branch structures of family homes. “We work intensively with the environment, the artisans, the architecture, and local materials to abstract our own language,” says de Ocón. “All of this applied to our language of plastic bottle reuse, developing a collection around the expressive power of local textiles.”
Each lamp features an integrated recycled PET bottle at the center of the woven design which acts as a conduit for the electrical wiring, allowing it to pass through the woven surface. When the lamp is switched on, the light diffuses upward and outward through the flat woven surface, highlighting its complex patterns. De Ocón explains, “Gurunsi opens the way to a typology that hasn’t been seen in the market, one that works with both light and shadow. We float a large fabric in the air that projects shadows on the ceiling.”
Since PET Lamp’s launch in 2012, the team has worked with artisans all over the world, creating eight unique collections that celebrate each culture. Check out the Ghana-inspired Gurunsi collection below and find more collections on the PET lamp website.
The PET Lamp Gurunsi collection by Spanish designer Álvaro Catalán de Ocón was made in collaboration with skilled artisan communities in northern Ghana.
The designs draw on Frafra weaving traditions as well as the architectural forms of northern Ghana, with patterns that echo the adobe-and-branch structures of family homes.
Each lamp features an integrated plastic bottle at the center of the woven design, which acts as a conduit for the electrical wiring.
The ongoing project transforms plastic waste into design and supports local communities around the world.
We recently spotted the PET Lamps at Design Miami.
View this post on Instagram
