felix hardmood beck + felix groll: mategon traditional calabesh gourd

‘mategon’ by felix hardmood beck with felix groll image courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll

berlin-based designers felix hardmood beck and felix groll have developed ‘mategon’. the teapot and cup are a re-investigation of the traditional calabesh gourd, a container made from the dried, hollowed-out shell from a fruit of the same name. the objects infuse polygonal structures from its computerized background with the organic features of the plant. the wooden form of each receptacle was achieved with modern technologies such as 3d printing for preliminary tests and multi-axis routing for the final outcome.

the vessels hold finely chopped mate leaves, creating an infusion drink originating in south america called ‘yerba mate’. conventionally, the tea is drunk from a metal straw called a ‘bombilla’. the range was shown at dmy berlin 2012.

update (7/9/12): the material used to create the design was an outcome of testing a number of different woods such as maple, alder, ash, beech and elm from sustainable resources within germany. a limited series will use an old beam of tropical ovangkol wood which the designers found at a turners workshop in berlin kreuzberg that was felled almost a century ago.

the objects are created using modern technologies such as multi-axis routing image © designboom

the vessel holds a drink called ‘yerba mate’ image © designboom

tests of the design image © designboom

process image with a  multi-axis router image courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll

the objects slowly coming to life image courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll

3d printed lineup image courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll

3d printed version and wooden version image courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll

the artist at DMY berlin 2012 image © designboom

the collection at the stall image © designboom

computerized sketch of the concept of the utah teapot, mategon, and bombilla strawimage courtesy of felix hardmood beck and felix groll