Booi is a pendant light designed by Norwegian designer Cathrine Baekken of Studio Heem for Graypants Studio and produced in collaboration with Fin Design Shop. 

 

Booi can be visually linked to the round fenders often spotted on smaller boats; the fixture’s glass eye was inspired by the glass fishing floats once used by fishermen in many parts of the world. Though no longer commonly used, many of the glass balls are still afloat in the world’s oceans and they have become a popular collectors’ item. These nautical design roots are a connection between the rugged maritime landscapes of Bergen, Norway and Seattle, Washington. Incredibly versatile, the Booi pendant can be hung alone or in groups, or used as an accent light simply resting on a table or the floor.

 

Production on Booi was halted for six years while the studios tried to find a way to produce the fixtures solid-wood cap. While the conceptual design for Booi was approachable enough, the process of determining how to cut the wooden cap was far more problematic. A significant amount of prototyping was involved as the piece features a myriad of complex curves that must be carved out of a planar surface. In order to produce the cap, over a thousand vectors were individually mapped and programmed to create a unique tool path which when cut on the shop’s three axis CNC, yielded the fixture’s unique curvature. 

 

Each Booi pendant is built, hand-sanded, hand-finished and wired by Hann Elias.