11 — 3DLights

Architectural lamps made with 3D printing.

I founded 3DLights to turn familiar buildings into 3D-printed lamps. A commission for one wedding grew into an Etsy shop that sold more than 300 lamps.

Role
Founder and designer
Sales channel
Etsy
The Dom Tower lit up as a table lamp
Dom Tower · Utrecht
Lamps sold on Etsy
300+
Buildings made for the wedding
12
Lamp heights
15 cm – 1 m
Project period
2018–2021

The first commission

Twelve buildings for one wedding.

For a wedding, I recreated twelve buildings from Washington, D.C. as illuminated table centrepieces. Each building had to stay recognisable in miniature and work as a lamp. That commission gave me the idea for 3DLights.

White building with columns and a triangular pediment
Illuminated white dome with a spire
Illuminated cathedral model with two towers and a rose window
Three of the twelve wedding centrepieces.

The Etsy shop

From one commission to a collection.

I expanded the collection with landmarks closer to home, including Utrecht’s Dom Tower and Amsterdam’s Westerkerk tower. I designed the packaging and sold more than 300 lamps through Etsy.

A stack of boxed Dom Tower lamps beside one illuminated lamp
A batch of Dom Tower lamps in packaging I designed.

Scaling up

From 15 centimetres to one metre.

Between 2018 and 2021, my designs grew from 15 cm miniatures to lamps a metre tall. At that scale, the proportions, the façade details and the way light spreads through the model become much more visible.

An illuminated Dom Tower lamp held in one hand
Dom Tower miniature
A large Westerkerk tower lamp standing on the floor
A larger Westerkerk tower lamp

Photo gallery

More from the collection.

A group of illuminated skyscrapers with the Chrysler Building in front
Two illuminated miniatures on round bases, including a Christmas tree
Eiffel Tower lamp with an illuminated lattice