ruutu mouth blown glass vases by ronan and erwan bouroullec for iittala

ruutu mouth blown glass vases by ronan & erwan bouroullec for iittala
all images courtesy of studio bouroullec

french designers ronan and erwan bouroullec have announced their first collaboration alongside finnish company iittala for the production of ‘ruutu’, a collection of ten vases available in five sizes and seven different glass colors. when collected and combined, the series of mouth blown borosilicate containers manufacture miniature and seamless installations, which according the bouroullec brothers, ‘creates both the strength and the delicate nature of the glass to come alive.’

video directed by juriaan booij courtesy of ronan & erwan bouroullec

‘I have always had in mind this piece of glass, which would catch light and transmit a color into the home.’ explains ronan bouroullec.’ the vases were made on a platform a bit like a theater stage – every gesture choreographed and very precise because the molten matter is extremely dangerous. there is a whole language of body and gesture that went into making the vases, like a theatrical production.’

‘ruutu’ means diamond or square in finnish

‘glass is a material that likes roundness, that likes curves, that likes to flow a bit like honey,’ said erwan bouroullec, ‘it is not a material that likes to be drawn into precise geometrical forms.’ ‘so the diamond proved to be the right form because it enabled us to fulfill our original wish,’ adds ronan, ‘which was to find a shape that worked in different sizes that perfectly intermingle for a meeting of color, an intersection of volumes – almost like blending liquids into different water-colors.’

1/9