Marjan van Aubel's "Foam China"

Dutch design group Tuttobene (located in Italy) has shown some impressive new designs at this year's Milan Design Week. The overlying theme behind all the work is sustainability: from outdoor lamps made out of bird food to a series of tableware made out of plastic that look like ceramics. My favorite out of all the work is Marjan van Aubel's "Foam China". This new material is an open-cell porcelain that behaves like a foam. It resembles foam and is lightweight and easy to use. It appears to be lumpy and gooey but when cut open it is full of small air pockets. It has all the same properties as porcelain and can even be glazed. Van Aubel has made cups, bowls, small plates, and saucers out of this porcelain-like foam which she calls "Foam China". The designer has also made a full China closet to house the tableware. Tuttobene has also released a magazine called Connecting the Dots which shows all the Dutch designers and firms presenting at Milan Design Week 2010. The magazine is defiantly worth taking a look at.

(Original core77 post here.)