Designers Candice Blanc and Ulysse Martel have created a collection of iridescent exercise weights that can also be displayed as sculptures in the home. 

Called Olympia, the minimalist pieces are coloured in an iridescent lacquer. When not in use, the weights can be joined with one another, or stacked, to form vertical, geometric sculptures.

The project, which has been shortlisted for a Dezeen award in leisure design, features a trio of free weights, a pair of push-up bars and a two-hand dumbbell.

"As each of us seeks physical perfection, the cult of the body and the will to make it attractive to all has become one of the challenges of our time," said the duo.

"In the near future, our progress in genetics and biotech will render these physical efforts superfluous transforming all our exercise equipment into artefacts," they explained.

"Humans have access to a lot of technologies to enhance their body so, in the future, actual physical training will not make sense anymore."

The pieces feature a series of cylindrical and semi-cylindrical shapes made from machine-cut steel and coated in a glossy, iridescent lacquer.

"Both futuristic and retrograde at the same time, the use of iridescent paint aims to capture the eye and give the object an exaggerated pictorial character," said the designers.

"The displacement of the gravitation centre of the pieces seeks to reinforce the sculptural of the objects," they continued.

Elsewhere, Swedish brand Tingest has launched a collection of home training equipment, which features marble dumbbells, a bamboo hula hoop and a slimline kettlebell.

Other shortlisted projects from the Dezeen Awards include a series of corrugated furniture objects from pipes conventionally used to carry waste sewage and a plastic mesh that connect medication boxes together to allow easier delivery of malaria medicine in remote sub-Saharan African villages.

Photography is by Raphaëlle Mueller.