Zaha Hadid Design's gift guide features sculptural spice grinder and chess set
Promotion: Dezeen has teamed up with Zaha Hadid Design to put together a Christmas gift guide, which includes a collection of stainless steel candle holders informed by the way cells replicate and sunglasses made in collaboration with eyewear brand The Owner.
The guide also includes a set of salt and pepper grinders modelled on the architecture of towers, as well as bowls, candles and a chess set.
Read on for our roundup of ten gift ideas from the design studio of architect Zaha Hadid.
The Pulse collection includes vases, platters, bowls and tealights made from polished hand-blown glass.
The pieces feature a distinctive pleated design, covering not just the sides but wrapping all the way down across the base of the glassware to create a tactile detail.
"The pleating of the glass wraps around the base creating a subtle shift in planes, from the horizontal to the vertical," said Zaha Hadid Design. "The horizontal gradation of the pleats depend on the scale of the object and this is explored further in the design."
The collection comes in a variety of colours, including clear, blue, amber and smoke.
One of the studio's most popular gifts is Duo – a set of salt and pepper grinders informed by the architecture of towers.
Their silhouettes twist upwards to form triangular peaks and each is equipped with a ceramic grinder, which users can adjust for a coarse or fine grind.
"We always try to impart something a little unusual or special in our designs," said Zaha Hadid Design. "The twisting hand gesture of a grinding movement is mimicked in the form of the objects, and this lends a sculptural quality to the set."
Duo comes in various colour combinations – the black grinder can be paired with a version in grey, blue or olive green while the grey finish can be teamed with either blue or olive green.
Shimmer is a range of scented candles and polished glass tealight holders, which the studio says is also among its bestselling gifts.
The glassware is formed from three "petals" that extend into a hexagon.
"This series has been developed as a continuation of Zaha's tower geometry research," the studio said. "Exploring another scale, this sculptural object is a strong statement on its own and can be clustered together with other objects without seeming out of place.
The objects are designed for multiple purposes and can also be used as trinket dishes for holding small objects once the wax has run out.
Shimmer candles come in a range of scents including Jasmine, Lemongrass, Cassis, Steel, Auric and Obsidian.
The Crevasse Vase in polished stainless-steel twists vertically to an irregular quadrilateral opening and is one of the first collaborations between Zaha Hadid and Italian brand Alessi.
The vase is available in polished silver, and as a numbered edition in black and blue.
Find out more about Crevasse Vase ›
Fluxx Eyewear is a collection of sunglasses made in collaboration with eyewear brand The Owner that makes use of the same fluid silhouettes and strategic voids found in Hadid's architecture.
"The intention behind the initial sketches was to investigate the unique relationship between the frame and the lens, and we sought to explore this dialogue in different ways through the collections," said the studio.
"Ultimately, we are interested in the spaces in-between the frame – the voids, and how these define the relationship to the wearer."
The frames are available in a range of colours, including black, white, clear and lime green. Each model also comes with two interchangeable lenses in black and in some unusual shades such as iridescent or baby blue.
Find out more about Fluxx Eyewear ›
Plex is a crystal glass dish made from two separate parts that can be stacked on top of each other to conceal their contents.
Zaha Hadid Design says the dish can be "separated into parts that nest together across any tablescape".
Plex comes in a range of colours including clear, grey, olive green and amber, and each container has both a frosted and polished finish.
Swirl is a bowl made of lead crystal glass – a type of ultra-reflective glass made with the addition of lead oxide.
This helps to highlight the swirling design of the dish, which according to the studio was designed to resemble "the sweeping gesture of a vortex".
The bowl has a shallow design for use as a statement centrepiece.
"This centrepiece references the swirling dynamism of a liquid vortex," said Zaha Hadid Design. "The hand polishing and translucency of the finish emphasises the form and allows for the object to harmonise within any environment it is placed."
This limited edition print references an original painting by Hadid, visualising her extension of the Serpentine North Gallery in London's Hyde Park.
The print reflects the architect's design process and in particular the role of sketching in her practice, the studio explained.
Find out more about Wave Print ›
The studio's Towers Chess Set includes a lacquered and polished polyurethane board finished with a silkscreen printed grid.
The polished resin chess pieces feature subtle variations in a nod to the "iterative design process employed to develop and render each project".
"The board is designed to seamlessly integrate with the pieces, specifically within the interior," said Zaha Hadid Design. "The top and the base separate into two halves revealing individual compartments that can conceal the pieces when not in use."
Find out more about Towers Chess set ›
Cell is a collection of stainless-steel candleholders, informed by the replication and growth of cellular organisms.
Based on this idea, the studio created a modular design that can be reconfigured and expanded to adapt to different spaces and occasions.
"We liked the impact of creating a sculptural piece that could be reconfigured in multiple compositions across a table surface," the studio said.
Cell is made from stainless steel and comes in three heights and three colours – silver, black and rose gold.
Partnership content
This article was written by Dezeen for Zaha Hadid Design as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.