Blending cutting-edge digital fabrication with poetic biomimicry, designer Xuanhao Li’s Polycycle Illumination turns discarded plastic film into luminous jellyfish-like lamps. The award-winning project not only diverts difficult-to-recycle waste from landfills but also delivers a visually captivating commentary on marine plastic pollution.
Rethinking waste through design
In a world where plastic pollution continues to endanger marine ecosystems, designer Xuanhao Li offers an alternative lens: transformation. His Polycycle Illumination collection repurposes industrial polyethylene (PE) film—a material rarely recycled due to its thin, flexible nature—into sculptural lighting pieces that evoke the gentle, drifting forms of jellyfish.
Sourced from an Atlanta-based furniture manufacturer’s discarded packaging, the PE film is heat-fused into semi-translucent panels, precision-cut using CNC machinery, and then hand-assembled into interlocking lampshades. The result is a collection of ethereal table lamps that feel both digital and organic, synthetic yet soft. “I wanted to transform pollution into something poetic,” Xuanhao explains. “The translucency and flexibility of plastic film—often seen as flaws—become virtues in creating ambient, flowing light.”
A fusion of parametric logic and traditional handwork
At the heart of the Polycycle Illumination project is a balance between digital exactitude and human craftsmanship. A custom parametric algorithm generates textile-like, knit-inspired patterns tailored to each lamp’s size and shape. These patterns are then fed into CNC machines, ensuring precision and repeatability in cutting.
But the process doesn’t stop at automation. Once cut, each component is hand-assembled in Xuanhao’s studio, reinforcing the tactile, handcrafted nature of the final product. The interplay between technology and tradition is key to the project’s philosophy: scalable, yet intimate; mechanical, but never cold.
The lighting forms themselves take direct inspiration from jellyfish—an intentional choice that echoes the project’s environmental themes. Plastic bags and films are often mistaken for jellyfish by marine animals, leading to fatal ingestion. By mimicking these creatures, Polycycle Illumination offers a haunting reminder of the ocean’s vulnerability while celebrating its beauty.
Circular design with a local footprint
While the collection currently takes shape in Xuanhao’s Atlanta studio, plans are already underway to shift production to China. The aim: to source local PE waste and minimize emissions from cross-continental shipping. This move also aligns with the designer’s broader ambition to create a replicable, localized system of circular production.
“I hope this project can address a grim reality: marine creatures frequently mistake floating plastic for jellyfish, ingesting deadly debris,” Xuanhao says. “By extending PE waste’s lifespan as functional art, the collection aims to stimulate dialogue about circular design.”
The project’s modular fabrication method is particularly well-suited to this vision. Because the lamps are cut from sheet material and assembled like textiles, the design can be easily adapted to different waste sources or regional aesthetics, making it both environmentally responsible and culturally flexible.
Lighting as activism
While Polycycle Illumination sits comfortably within the sphere of high-concept design, its core mission is advocacy. The collection aims to reach both eco-conscious consumers and institutional audiences, from design museums to environmental NGOs. The lamps are not just functional; they are conversation starters, designed to provoke thought and awareness.
The duality between form and message—between delicacy and urgency—has resonated across the design world. The project recently won the prestigious Dezeen Awards China 2024 Design Project of the Year, as well as Lighting Design of the Year, cementing its status as both a design innovation and a cultural statement.
Xuanhao envisions future collaborations with nonprofits and environmental education organizations to amplify the collection’s impact. He also plans to expand the line with pendant and floor lamp variations, each crafted using the same blend of digital precision and sustainable sourcing.
Beauty with a message
In the era of mass consumption and environmental reckoning, Polycycle Illumination stands out not just for its beauty, but for its intentionality. It reframes plastic waste as a resource rather than a burden, and positions design as a tool not only for creation, but for repair and reflection.
More than a lighting collection, it’s a meditation on material, marine life, and the human imprint on nature. Through a single everyday object—a table lamp—Xuanhao Li invites us to imagine a more poetic, responsible, and interconnected future.
