Designer Irina Flore has created a collection of ceramic bowls and plates that can be stacked up into form containers for preserving food, to offer an alternative to plastic containers or foil.

L'art de la table is composed of six tableware pieces that can be used for eating, preserving or presenting food. The collection's ability to be assembled in various forms is influenced by construction and building games, and the designer's memories of her grandmother's cooking.

"L'art de la table is a collection of multipurpose objects ideal for both serving or displaying," the Portland designer said.

"They can be mixed and matched in different ways, they will always work together."

A bottom rim encircles each object allowing them to easily connect on top of one another in various arrangements. This stacking idea was influenced by the designer's memories of her grandmother who always covered bowls with plates to keep food heated or to preserve it inside a refrigerator.

Objects in the collection come in black and white and include plates that measures 250 millimetres (9.8 inches) and 300 millimetres (11.8 inches) in diameter.

Both the plates can be fastened on top of the containers, which come in two sizes, high and low, to provide an alternative to food-storage container lids or foil used to preserve food. A bowl features a rigid exterior and a handle, and is intended to be used for eating, mixing ingredients or as a saucer.

"With this collection we want to encourage people to use long lasting products, but at the same time to offer them the possibility to adapt the objects to their own needs and spaces," Flore said.

Flore collaborated with Portland designer Mudshark Studios to manufacture the collection.

It is handcrafted using custom moulds that are slipcast, a popular process for mass producing pottery that involves pouring liquid clay into plaster moulds to form a solid ceramic material.

Other designers are also experimenting with ways to innovate food storage, eliminate plastic and increase food's longevity. Ovie's Smarterware collection tags containers and glows red when food is expired and Thai company BeeConscious created cling film using beeswax-coated cotton.

L'art de la table won the prototype competition at this year's IDS Vancouver, which ran from 26 to 29 September 2019. The event focused on food, with a showcase of eating designer Marie Volgezang's sensual Seeds exhibit, which was first shown at IDS Toronto earlier this year.

Other installations included the Edible Futures exhibit, featuring proposals for eating in the future like meat made from seaweed and an automated food-production system.