Our form studies for the project with Mino Soil started out as an experimentation between the subtractive act of digging up clay and the additive manufacturing of 3D-printing. The biomorphic shapes convey two worlds that meet. One end, contemporary digital craft and the other, traditional ceramic culture. The notion of the organic is a part of our studio’s ongoing exploration of what the digital can look like and bringing it closer to the human, our senses and the nature we are part of. 

The planter and the vase take their inspiration in the synergy between soil and botany tubers, bulbs and rhizomes. Tubers (eg. potatoes, sunchokes and yams) and bulbs (eg. garlic, tulips and amaryllis) are swollen structures of underground stems or rhizomes that grow beneath the soil surface. They are shaped in that way in order to store energy, acting like nutrition depots to regrowth. Similar to how the soil provides nourishment and habitat so tubers are formed and grown, these digitally crafted bulbous vases are embodied by the clay of Mino Soil. Becoming nutrition depots for plants, vegetables and flowers.