Bo Zhang Turns Trays Into Shadow Play With the Lightware Series
Designer Bo Zhang has always been fascinated by how light behaves — how it bends, scatters, reflects, and surprises us in the smallest moments. His Ripples collection showed that even a simple tray could create an optical illusion, shifting with the viewer’s angle.
Now, Zhang returns with Lightware, a trio of transparent glass trays that transform everyday surfaces into interactive shadow play. Instead of color gradients, Lightware works in light and dark, letting polarizing film shape geometric shadows that move and evolve with every shift in position.
The result is part science experiment, part sculpture — and entirely mesmerizing.
Exploring the Boundary Between Reality and Illusion
Zhang’s approach is rooted in a simple question:
How can light alter the way we perceive ordinary objects?
“Optical effects can transcend the public’s everyday understanding of design,” he explains. Light, he believes, can toggle between reality and illusion — a concept he explores by letting its reflections and refractions become part of the object itself.
In Lightware, polarizing film becomes the engine of the illusion.
- Aligned in parallel, it blocks light.
- Turned 90 degrees, it lets light pass through.
By layering these films inside glass with tray structures, Zhang creates patterns that react instantly to movement or changes in the room’s lighting.
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Shadows, Color, and Unexpected Movement
Zhang doesn’t stop at shadow play. When additional transparent plastics are layered in, the effect becomes even richer — shadows begin to shift in color, almost like miniature rainbows inside the trays.
What begins as a clear glass tray becomes something more dynamic:
- a black glass tray that captures light,
- a white glass tray that reveals every subtle shadow,
- or a small glass tray that acts like a handheld light experiment.
Even objects as simple as milk glass trays, rectangular glass trays, or glass small trays become canvases for movement, reflection, and interaction.
To learn more about optics in design, explore MIT’s “Arts & Light” research archive:
Light as a Participant, Not a Background
Zhang hopes Lightware does more than decorate a space — he wants people to notice light itself.
“Light is usually overlooked,” he reflects. “I want to use common materials to create new experiences and interactions.”
In that spirit, Lightware becomes both object and experience. The trays shift throughout the day, creating patterns that feel almost alive. They invite quiet play — turning a glassware tray into a moment of curiosity and discovery.
The series, available in three sizes, was recently named an Honoree of the 2025 NYXxDESIGN Awards in Accessories.
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FAQs About Bo Zhang’s Lightware Trays
1. What makes the Lightware trays unique?
They use polarizing film and layered glass to create shifting patterns, transforming simple trays into interactive optical objects.
2. What sizes and colors do the trays come in?
They are available in three sizes and various finishes including black glass tray, clear glass tray, and white glass tray.
3. Are these trays decorative or functional?
Both. They function as glassware trays and small glass trays, but also serve as sculptural, light-responsive objects.
4. What materials are used?
Glass, polarizing film, and transparent plastics, creating layered optical effects inside each rectangular glass tray or compact tray version.
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