From farm waste to Nordic elegance: the story behind Terra table lamps
NOI Creative’s most recent product balances the use of agricultural waste materials and Scandinavian design style in a product that proves you can really do it all.
Lanova‘s latest product represents the fusion between environmental consciousness and timeless Nordic design. Terra is an innovative lighting collection developed in 2024 by NOI Creative, which challenges traditional manufacturing processes by transforming agricultural waste into beautiful and functional home decor, telling a story of renewal and responsibility.
The Terra lamp series is characterised by its revolutionary use of biowaste materials. Crafted using coffee grounds, rice husks, and wheat bran, which account for around 60% of its composition, the products both reduce the use of fossil-based plastics and they give new life to materials which are traditionally discarded. This significant proportion of agricultural waste is a major breakthrough in sustainable material design, proving that biowaste can serve as a primary structural component rather than a mere additive.
Each of the agricultural byproducts selected by NOI Creative serves a specific function in the final product. Coffee grounds, provide rich brown tones and fine textures, and often a pleasant olfactory experience as well. 150 million tonnes of rice husks are discarded each year, despite the material’s natural strength and resilience due to its high silica contents, which provide structural integrity to the lamps. Wheat bran, adds subtle golden hues and natural binding properties.
The lamps celebrate the natural beauty found in organic material, even one that is supposedly waste, and shows it through the textured surfaces of the product. The design philosophy behind Terra reflects Lanova’s commitment to designing “symbols of change“: products that demonstrate how sustainable practices are able to enhance rather than compromise an object’s aesthetic appeal.
True to Nordic design principles, Terra embraces warm simplicity and functional beauty. The lamp’s soft curves and organic forms draw inspiration from Scandinavian’s delicate design as well as from nature, creating a harmonious connection between the essence of the raw materials and the finalised product. The two-part construction exemplifies minimalist design while also addressing practical solutions. The lampshade nests inside the main body, creating a compact shape that significantly reduces packaging size, by 40%, and therefore the transportation’s polluting impact. This modular approach is a demonstration of how thoughtful design can simultaneously address environmental performance and user experience.
One of the primary challenges of creating the Terra lamps, as highlighted by their designers from NOI Creative, was designing a product that could honour the natural irregularities inherent in bio-based materials, while also maintaining consistent quality in line with Lanova’s clientele expectations. By balancing the rich texture with minimalistic and linear shapes in the lamp’s silhouette, the design manages to respond to this challenge with grace and timelessness.
The Terra lamp series embodies a new vision for everyday sustainability. Each lamp brings what was considered waste into a functional art piece, taking natural textures and organic beauty into contemporary homes. This case study illustrates the potential for design to drive environmental change without sacrificing aesthetics. By combining agricultural waste with Nordic design sensibilities, NOI Creative and Lanova have created lighting that proves how sustainability and style can beautifully co-exist.
