Henning Gunnarsson

Two vases, one floating light.

CELINA

Role
Concept, light studies, CAD and prototype
Team
Henning Gunnarsson, Tilde Albrektsson, Filip Johansson
Year
Feb–May 2026
Tools
Fusion 360, Blender, Photoshop
Type
Bachelor thesis, Linköping University · Client: Reijmyre Glasbruk
Light
GX53 LED, 2700 K, 500 lm

Celina is a pendant lamp where a small coloured LINA vase floats inside a large clear one. The light source is hidden, so all you see is the glass and its colour.

The process

  1. 01UnderstandThe brief from Reijmyre, and a light lab to learn how light behaves in their glass.The brief · Understanding light
  2. 02IdeateFifteen ways to turn Reijmyre's LINA and EBBA vases into lamps.Fifteen ideas
  3. 03DevelopA small coloured vase floating inside a large clear one, and its place in a family of three.A floating vase · One of three
  4. 04BuildParts modelled in Fusion 360, CNC-turned in aluminium and assembled.Prototype
  5. 05DeliverShown at an exhibition at Linköping University.Outcome
  6. 06ReflectWhat was hard about working with glass and light.Looking back
Understand01 01

The brief

Reijmyre Glasbruk asked how their existing glass could be combined with standard, off-the-shelf components into lamps that work technically and can be reproduced. It is also a way to use vases with small air bubbles, which can't be sold as art glass.

Seven of us took on the brief for our bachelor thesis; Celina was developed by Tilde Albrektsson, Filip Johansson and me. We worked from Thomas Sandell's LINA and EBBA collections, and chose LINA for its simplicity and clean lines.

LINA by Thomas Sandell for Reijmyre
LINA by Thomas Sandell for Reijmyre
LINA in amber
LINA in amber
LINA in clear glass
LINA in clear glass
Understand01 02

Understanding light

Before designing anything, we built a light lab at the university to test colour temperature, brightness, bulb types and how light behaves in different glass.

Two findings shaped Celina. Clear glass gives no protection against glare, so the light source has to be hidden. And hand-blown glass varies in thickness, so the construction has to be based on the measurements that stay constant, such as the outer diameter.

The ribbed glass breaks the light into rays
The ribbed glass breaks the light into rays
A light source inside the glass
A light source inside the glass
Testing light sources and diffusers
Testing light sources and diffusers
Light box from our light lab, used to test how light spreads
Light box from our light lab, used to test how light spreads
A small and a large vase lit together
A small and a large vase lit together
Diagram of Richard Kelly's three principles of light in a living room: ambient luminescence on the wall, focal glow from a reading lamp, and play of brilliants from a small sparkling object

We worked from lighting designer Richard Kelly's three principles of light. The team developed one lamp for each.

Ambient luminescence

The soft, even base light that fills a room.

Celina

Focal glow

Directed light that draws the eye to a surface or object.

Nikolina

Play of brilliants

Sparkle and reflections that bring a space to life.

Paulina

Ideate02 03

Fifteen ideas

We sketched fifteen ways to build lamps from LINA and EBBA glass: pendants, table, floor, wall and serving lamps.

Celina grew out of No. 1 and No. 3, two pendants that both combine a large and a small LINA vase.

Concept 1
Taken forward
Concept 2
Concept 3
Taken forward
Concept 4
Concept 5
Concept 6
Concept 7
Concept 8
Concept 9
Concept 10
Concept 11
Concept 12
Concept 13
Concept 14
Concept 15

We took the strongest ideas further. Alongside the main family that became Celina, Nikolina and Paulina, we also developed an alternative family of four lamps, each tied to one of Kelly's principles.

Concept No. 6, a serving lamp
No. 6 · Battery-powered serving lamp, 10–15 cm. A small LINA on top of a mini LINA. Focal glow.
Concept No. 9, a wall or table lamp
No. 9 · Wall or table lamp, about 15 cm. A small LINA inside the base of a large one, ringed by an LED strip. Play of brilliants.
Sketch of concept No. 10, a long ceiling lamp
No. 10 · Ceiling lamp, 120–140 cm long. A row of small LINA vases lit by an LED strip, hung from two pendant tubes. Ambient luminescence.
Concept No. 13, a table lamp in bubbled glass
No. 13 · Table lamp, about 40 cm, with an E27 LED. A large EBBA on top of a small one; the bubbled glass gives a lively light. Play of brilliants.
Develop03 04

A floating vase

A small coloured LINA vase floats inside a large clear one, hung from three 1 mm wires tensioned in a lock ring. The top of the small vase is cracked off so it sends an even light straight down, and its distance to the light source is tuned to balance soft ambient light with direct light over the table.

Celina is meant to work with second-sort vases too, so a 300 mm gravity pipe makes the lamp hang straight whatever the glass is like. A bent steel bracket with built-in strain relief carries the whole lamp, which keeps the ceiling cup small.

Exploded view: how the parts come together

Parts, top to bottom

  1. Gravity pipe, 300 mm
  2. Top cap
  3. Mounting bracket
  4. GX53 light source
  5. Diffuser
  6. Large LINA vase
  7. Lock ring
  8. Small LINA vase, top cracked off
  9. Three 1 mm wires
Diagram of how light moves through Celina: a fabric diffuser under the GX53 light source, soft light through the outer glass and stronger light down through the open top of the inner vase
How the light moves: soft through the ribbed outer glass, stronger straight down through the small vase.
Mounting bracket in 1.5 mm steel sheet
Top cap with M90 × 1.5 thread
Top cap with M90 × 1.5 thread
Lock ring holding the three wires
Lock ring holding the three wires
Gravity pipe, 300 mm, M10 thread
Gravity pipe, 300 mm, M10 thread
Develop03 05

One of three

Celina is one of three lamps in the project's main family, alongside Nikolina and Paulina, which were developed by the other students in the project.

Celina comes in silver or white, and the small inner vase sets the colour.

Rendering of a wooden room by the sea with Celina above the table and the family's other two lamps
The whole family in one room.
Rendering of Celina with a blue inner vase above a dining table
Above the dining table, the setting Celina was designed for
Rendering of three Celina pendants with green, blue and amber inner vases
Green, blue and amber
Silver with blue
Silver with blue
White with amber
White with amber
Build04 06

Prototype

We modelled every part in Fusion 360 and had them CNC-turned in aluminium. The large vase is clamped between the top cap and the lock ring, and a fabric diffuser in the lock ring softens the light.

The bent steel bracket with the cable clamped to it
1. The bent steel bracket, with the cable clamped for strain relief
GX53 lamp holder fitted inside the aluminium top cap
2. The GX53 holder fitted in the turned aluminium top cap
The assembled Celina prototype standing on a workbench
3. Assembled on the workbench
The finished prototype, switched on.
The finished prototype, switched on.
Deliver05 07

Outcome

The three lamps were shown at an exhibition at Linköping University, each staged in the setting it was designed for, alongside Reijmyre's vases and our process posters.

Celina lit over a laid dining table at the exhibition, with a table lamp and a window pendant behind it
Over the dining table at the exhibition.
Celina over the laid table
Close up
The exhibition room with all three lamps
The exhibition room, with all three lamps
Celina above the table in a darkened room
With the room lights off
Reflect06 08

Looking back

Working with glass and light was harder than it looked. Ribbed, hand-blown glass spreads light in ways that are hard to predict, and clear glass hides nothing, so every choice of light source, diffuser and distance had to be tested in the light lab rather than decided on screen.

The glass itself was the other challenge. The construction had to work with vases that are never quite the same twice, which meant designing for variation instead of exact measurements.