Brake Not to Break – Lovisa Ingman

School’s brief was to design a workspace within the home space. Since a year back I have been doing my school work from home, which has been difficult and limiting but I have done as good as I can. Since my school and Sweden, in general, do not handle Covid as everyone else stress is transferred to those who are careful rather than the responsibility is taken higher up so to speak.

The rhythm of my days has changed. I have given in to the fact that I am a late evening person and other circumstances have made my need for sleep increase. I have realized that I view rest as not being part of the process, that the process only moves forward when you are active, which is wrong of course. You need to balance input and output, impression and expression. One is the fruit of the other.

For this course, we started out discussing the body and our needs regarding changing position throughout the day. I sort of drifted off on my own… I wondered if I could make something that would help me alter between work and rest, something other than myself that would make me realize that it is time to take a break.

Tetris cushions and a timer tent. Then I drew sort of an hourglass but using water.

First sketches of a lamp with an old school timer.

Then this idea of a work light that switches off itself came to me. In my countryside place, we have those old clocks and I have always appreciated them. I found out they are built with a pendulum escapement mechanism, the same as used to make the first-ever mechanical clocks in the 13th century. I wanted to try to make one and combine it with a regular lamp.

My idea is that when the clock’s weight reaches the bottom platform, where the lamp’s switch is installed, it switches off the light with its own weight. 🙂

Prototyping

First, I had to make all the parts needed for the escapement mechanism and pendulum. Then I had to make the structure where to mount both the escapement and the lamp.