Dezeen Showroom: Italian stone brand Antolini has updated its Cristallo Vitrum tableware collection, adding a material combination that evokes the look of glacial ice. Titled Cristallo Vitrum "Wow", the new variation features translucent natural quartz stone paired with satin gold-finished steel. The collection aims to mimic the appearance of ice The play of cloudy and transparent sections and delicate amber veining gives the stone a mesmerising appearance, similar to large ice sheets, while the metal components create contrast. The Cristallo Vitrum tableware collection includes a lamp ..read more

Dezeen Showroom: Italian brand Pulkra has displayed a selection of products from its catalogue on Dezeen Showroom, which are made out of its patented concrete composite, Acron. Pulkra pioneered the lightweight yet strong composite material for use across a variety of applications, including in the manufacturing of its Compage tableware range. The accessories in the Compage collection have a sculptural quality An incense burner, candle holder, tray and bowl comprise the collection, which was designed by Martinelli Venezia, a design studio based in Milan and Palermo, Italy. Each piece has a mod ..read more

Dezeen Showroom: design studio Martinelli Venezia celebrates the expressive qualities of concrete with the Compage tableware collection, created for Italian brand Pulkra. The Compage tableware set consists of a bowl, tray, incense burner and candelabra that comes in two sizes holding either six or three candles. The Compage tableware set is made from concrete The pieces in the range can be arranged together in unique sculptural compositions or connected in a linear format thanks to each one's triangular prism-shaped base. Pulkra describes Martinelli Venezia's use of concrete as "rational and ..read more

The legacy of designers including Ray Eames and Eileen Gray is translated into cocktail glasses in designs by students at HEAD Genève in Switzerland. The project, titled Spirits – Excellent for the Head, features seven glassware designs created by students from the Space and Communication masters programme at the Geneva-based art and design university. Joseph Curle and Constance Thiessoz created Hopeful Future, a tribute to Anab Jain of Superflux Students worked in pairs to create glassware designs that celebrate the characters of pioneering women artists and designers from across history. Th ..read more

Designer Clement Zheng has created a collection of conductive ceramics that can heat food, act as interfaces for smart devices and sense moisture. Zheng, who developed the concept with a team of researchers at the National University of Singapore including designer Hans Tan, said he drew on the idea of computation interacting with daily life to create pieces that would be helpful in everyday situations. The ceramics are set on placemats with conductive pads "We were inspired by the Internet of Things and wanted to investigate how 'smart' objects can be embedded into everyd ..read more

Croatian studio Boir has designed a conceptual tableware collection for dining during the coronavirus pandemic, featuring a series of steel and stone objects that enable food sharing at a safe distance. The tableware collection, called The New Normal, comprises five items, including a bread basket divided by a barrier and long spoons that enable couples to feed each other from a distance. In designing the dining objects, Boir aimed to achieve a balance between "intimacy and safe distance" within the context of the coronavirus pandemic – often informally referred to as the "new normal". Boir's ..read more

Supertopmegacool explores the rhetoric of everyday objects in The Rhetorical Dinner, which it is presenting as part of VDF x Ventura Projects. Exhibitor: Supertopmegacool Project title: The Rhetorical Dinner Supertopmegacool is a design studio based in London and Paris. The studio is exhibiting its latest work, The Rhetorical Dinner, as part of the VDF x Ventura Projects collaboration. The Rhetorical Dinner is a conceptual project that comprises a collection tableware with exaggerated, playful and unusable forms. These are intended as "rhetorical devices". Supertopmegacool's aim is to invite ..read more

Dezeen Showroom: informed by traditional Japanese table settings, Scottish artist and metalworker Kathleen Reilly has designed a knife that features a handle folded 90 degrees from its blade. Reilly was informed by chopstick rests, which are typically used to elevate the tips of chopsticks from table surfaces to prevent contamination, when creating the Oku knife. The knife's shape is designed to keep the blade off the table Oku's folded shape allows the handle to be placed on a surface while the blade sits perpendicular away from the surface. Alternatively, users can rest the knife's bla ..read more

German designer Basse Stittgen aims to address the issue of global food waste and overconsumption with a series of tableware objects made solely from out-of-date eggs. As part of his project, called How Do You Like Your Eggs?, Stittgen aims to explore the "extraordinary materiality" of commonplace items, such as waste food. As a result, function and material unite as Stittgen turns discarded eggs into a series of golden-hued bioplastic egg cups and saucers, patterned with flecks of the broken shells. "Annually, an average of 6.4 billion hens lay 1.1 trillion eggs," said Stittgen. "Simul ..read more

Dezeen Showroom: created in 1970 by Italian designer Joe Colombo and released by Danish brand Karakter, the 5-in-1 set features five glasses that stack together to create one sculptural object. The 5-in-1 set contains a functional cognac glass, white wine glass, red wine glass, grappa glass and water glass, all expressed in different shapes and sizes. The pieces include glasses for wine, cognac and grappa Stacked one into the other, the pieces create a visual impact while reducing clutter in storage cupboards.A legend of Italian industrial design, Colombo practised painting and sculpture befo ..read more