Edible furniture for times of crisis at MaterialDistrict Rotterdam 2019

Design studio Lanzavecchia + Wai designed several types of edible furniture, amongst them a table of hard candy that will be on display at MaterialDistrict Rotterdam 2019 (12-14 March, Rotterdam Ahoy (NL)).

“Ostensibly living intact through good times and also adverse ones, the domestic objects become invisible to us over time with their familiarity,” the studio says. The furniture is the result of a project called Austerity that asks the question how furniture can react to times of crisis, since decorative items become superfluous in those times.

By making them from edible substances like candy and chocolate, the furniture offer themselves to be consumed when needed. “Piece by piece the object is eroded, exposing a soul, the core-function, which will remain over time,” the studio continues. “This will encourage us to re-think what basic necessities are: a true reflection on the essence of the things that will lead us into the future.”

The series consist of a hard candy coffee table, a chocolate chair, a rice grain sofa with a beans quilt and a hardtack table with corned beef legs. Each piece has a cast iron ‘essence’ that gives the piece its sturdiness.

MaterialDistrict Rotterdam
While the project is not new, one of the pieces, the hard candy coffee table, will be on display during MaterialDistrict Rotterdam 2019. The ‘essence’ of the table, a frame with three saucers that function as small tables themselves, was flown in from Italy, while the top is made by hard candy manufacturer Papabubble in Amsterdam (NL). Photos of the casting process are shown in the slider.

The table will be consumed at the end of the trade fair, so if you want a piece of this candy, visit us! Get your free ticket here.

Photos: Lanzavecchia + Wai / Papabubble