Dezeen Magazine

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

London designer Phil Cuttance has built a machine to cast faceted vases that are unique every time.

The Faceture series is made of water-based resin, rotated inside a folded mould as it hardens.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

The mould can be altered before each casting by pushing and pulling parts of the folded plastic net inwards and outwards.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

Royal College of Art graduate Julian Bond developed a similar process in 2010 by pushing plaster rods back and forth to continuously alter the cast form.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

See his work here.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

Other projects by Cuttance on Dezeen include vases made by welding plastic offcuts together and coat hooks made from toy animals.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

Images are by Petr Krejčí and Phil Cuttance.

Faceture by Phil Cuttance

Here's some more information from Cuttance:


FACETURE vases

The FACETURE series consists of handmade faceted vessels, light-shades and table. Each object is produced individually by casting a water-based resin into a simple handmade mould. The mould is then manually manipulated to create the each object's form before each casting, making every piece utterly unique.

The FACETURE process

First the mould of the object is hand-made by scoring and cutting a sheet of 0.5mm plastic sheet. This sheet is then folded, cut and taped into the overall shape of the product that is to be cast. The mould's final shape, and strength, is dictated by which triangular facets I pop in and out. I do this each time I ready the mould for the next object, meaning that no two castings are the same. I then mix a water-based casting resin that is cast in the mould where it sets solid.

The resin is poured into the hollow mould and rolled around to coat and encase the sides, controlled by me on the casting jig on the machine. The material soon sets creating a hollow solid object. Then another, different coloured measure of resin is poured into the same mould, and swirled around inside, over the first. When it has set, the mould is removed to reveal the solid set cast piece. The casting appears with sharp accurate lines and a digital quality to its aesthetic, a visual 'surprise' considering the ‘lo-fi’, hand-made process from which it came. The mould is then cleaned and ready for re-use.

Each vase is handmade, unique, and numbered on the base.

Available in two sizes:

Tall - 45 x 12 cm approx
Small - 34 x 8 cm approx

Standard colours - Charcoal, blue, yellow, pink, white. Custom colours available.

The FACETURE project was created with the support of Creative New Zealand.