WA. K Studio has designed Polis in New York City, United States.

This project is a series of colourful architecturally-inspired vessels that reconciles the speed of contemporary design practices with the slowness of hand-crafted ceramics.

The vessels were first designed on the computer using 3D software and then hand-built from stoneware. The designs 'unfolded' in 3D software and the resulting 2D shapes were arranged on a rectangular template to be projected onto slabs of clay using a small video projector.

Digital tools are used to make precise what is an inherently imprecise material, and to render straight and flat what naturally wants to wave and wobble. After a first firing, the sculptures are painted in custom-mixed underglazes; the colour palette was developed from their exploration of abstract watercolour paintings.

By mixing digital and analog in this way, Wak Studio was able to speed up an inherently slow process while retaining all of the beauty and nuance of a hand-crafted object.

This project has been longlisted in the homeware design category of Dezeen Awards 2022.

Designer: WA. K Studio

Project: Polis