I made this lamp "playing" with wooden dowels and I loved doing it. The shapes and geometries that you can create with things like dowels are infinite (or almost!) so it's always very fun for me to try and create new ones. Yet the part I love the most is putting the light in it to see the magic light effects that are created by such shapes. I'm always amazed at how beautiful they are, even when the shapes are so simple!
It was not purposely made to make it look like a skyscraper, but I decided to call it that way because the effect that the light gave to it in the dark reminded me of a modern skyscraper.

This lamp was made as a "companion" to the other dowel lamp I made a while ago, the Spiral Lamp. As you can see, they are very similar and the way I made it is almost the same one too. The only thing that changes is the way the squares are placed to create a different geometry.

I hope you like this lamp as much as I do, and if you do, please vote and don't forget to tell me what you think about it! :)

Step 1: What You Need

124 wood dowels - mine are about 7cm (2.75 inches) long with a diameter of 5mm (0.19 inches), you can get them here.
hot glue/white glue
piece of cardboard
pencil
cutter
light bulb* and bulb holder

*IMPORTANT: I always recommend using LED light bulbs or at least low-energy light bulbs, especially the cold light ones.

Step 2: Make the Squares

Let's start making the squares that will compose the lamp.
You simply have to glue 4 wood dowels in a square shape, joining the ends of the dowels together. Each dowel will be the side of the square.
You can use either hot glue or white glue. I used hot glue here because it's so much faster!

You have to make 31 squares like this.

I know, this is probably the longest and most boring part of making this lamp but it's very important!
After all, this may be long, but it's extremely easy!
Just add a little patience to the list of the things you need :D

Step 3: The Cardboard Square

Now cut a square out of cardboard. It must be as big as the squares you made with dowels. It's better if it's a millimeter or 2 (0.03 inches) smaller so that it won't be too visible from the outside later.

Take the bulb holder that you will use for this lamp, trace its outline in the middle of the cardboard square and cut it out.
This way your piece of cardboard will have a hole in the middle: that's where you will have to place your bulb holder at the end.

Step 4: The Base

Let's start to compose the lamp now.
We will start from the bottom.

You have to glue 3 squares together, one above the other, spreading some glue on their top.
I used white glue this time. I didn't have to move the structure too much so I could easily give it time to dry.

I placed them in a way that they wouldn't be all on the same side. If you look at the pictures, you will notice that the second square (the central one) is upside down so it looks different on the outsode than the other two ones.

After the 3 squares, glue the cardboard square on the top of them.

Step 5: Compose the Lamp

Glue another wood square on top of the cardboard, just like you were doing for the base.
The change happens with the second square: you must glue it placing the 4 sides facing the 4 angles of the previous square, and vice versa.
If this doesn't make much sense, please look at the pictures and I am sure it will be clearer.

As you do this, you just have to put a little bit of glue on the spots where the 2 squares will intersect.

Now continue this way until you have glued all of your squares.
Remember: all of them must be placed like the first 2 ones otherwise you won't obtain this particular shape.

ps: the white glue will be visible at first but don't worry! It becomes transparent as it dries.

Step 6: Done!

Finally install the bulb holder and light bulb and...believe it or not, your lamp is done! It was just a matter of composing pieces, that's all!
What do you think about the result? :)