Dezeen promotion: for Milan design week, Spanish designer Xavier Mañosa has created an installation that sees an entire kitchen and its utensils all made from Cosentino's clay-like material Dekton.
The Dektonclay installation was designed by Mañosa – who heads up a studio Apparatu – for surface materials company Cosentino's presentation on Via Cesare Correnti.
Mañosa was keen to use the project to explore the concept of the kitchen, aiming to "gather cooking and eating together through one material" by using the Dekton material.
Dekton is made from a mixture of the raw materials used to manufacture glass, porcelain materials and quartz surfaces. It has a high resistance to UV rays, scratches, stains and heat.
"The aim of the ceramist was to discover new ways of working with Dekton, to find out how the material behaved under different temperatures or conditions of density," said Cosentino.
"After that time, new and varied questions arose about the creative process. How could the industrialised production of the material be combined with Mañosa's artisanal way of working?"
"How could it be enhanced with a three-dimensional quality? How could Dekton be designed to achieve different contrasts, textures or ranges of colour?" Cosentino added.
The result is a collection of table and kitchenware, furniture pieces and even a kitchen itself – all made from glossy or matt grey-coloured Dekton.
As well as plates and cups, this includes the ovens, kitchen top and cupboard handles – each of which were formed using a number of different processes.
The Dektonclay installation will be on show at the Ladies and Gentlemen exhibition on Via Cesare Correnti during Milan design week, taking place this year from 4 to 9 April.