Stickbulb

PLEAT is a new modular lighting system powered by two materials derived from trees: salvaged wood from New York City’s urban forest and traditional Kozo paper made out of mulberry tree bark from Yoshinogawa, Japan, known for its long-standing paper making tradition.

PLEAT’s slender wooden elements are milled from salvaged oak trees that carry the memory of New York City streets—growth rings shaped by decades of seasons, storms and skyline shadows. The angled wooden frames are inset with gentle bands of glowing light, seen through the organic texture of Kozo paper carefully hand-folded in Stickbulb’s New York City studio. The result is a study in tension: minimal and muscular in form, yet warm and atmospheric in its illumination.

“I was drawn to the contrast between structure and softness,” says Stickbulb co-founder and Creative Director Russell Greenberg. “PLEAT merges the magical warmth of Japanese paper with the linear geometry, robust joinery, and quiet structural clarity that have been hallmarks of Stickbulb designs for over a decade.”

We began working with salvaged pin-oak trees from NYC’s urban forest in 2023, and ever since we have been designing our products specifically to get as high a yield as possible.