The lamp shade and stool you see above weren't given their color stripes based on looks alone: Instead, they're the product of The Idea of a Tree, a machine invented by Vienna-based designers Mischer'Traxler.

When it detects sunrise, the machine begins to weave. The process continues as the day wears on: when the sky is cloudier, the thread is dyed darker; when it is sunnier, the thread is lighter. The weaving ends when the sun sets--with the entire rig powered by solar energy, from the loom to the spindle to the dye machine. Thus, what results is a piece of furniture that records the light patterns that have just passed in the course of 14 hours or so.

The designers then finish the piece as a stool or a lampshade, and then stamp it with a seal, marking the day and place of its creation.

The piece is currently on view at DMY Berlin, a showcase for German's young rising talent--which often gets overlooked, but has been very impressive this year--as you can see here, here, here, and here.

[Via Design Boom, which has more pictures of the machine at work, and Dezeen]