galatea silverware by 501 design studio

‘galatea silverwear’ by 501 design studio image © designboom

japanese 501 design studio (soichi takenaka and hiroi igarashi) created ‘galatea silverware’. traditional mass produced cutlery gets a new twist with the application of an ancient japanese craft technique. the patterned, shaped by casting stainless steel spoons, forks and knives have been hammered by hand. this process gives the material luster as well as an intricate texture. the project aims to revitalize an industrial product by adding a manual and modern aesthetic, while retaining its historical relevance.

cutlery set – printed life-size cutlery pieces on the packaging reveal the contentimage © designboom

the set consists of three spoons, two forks and a knife image © designboom

detail of hammer work image © designboom

front view of spoons at various early stages of hammer work. final result not shown here. image © designboom

back view of spoons at various early stages of hammer work. final work not shown here. image © designboom

detail of cutlery handle before and after first steps of hammering image © designboom

501 designstudio showed ‘galatea cutlery’ in november 2011 at the designboom mart tokyo 2011.