edible furniture by lanzavecchia + wai

‘austerity’ edible furniture by lanzavecchia + waiimage © davide farabegoli

in four conceptual objects, italian and singaporean design studio lanzavecchia + wai re-propose basic nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, sugar and chocolate as food reserves which at the same time complement and finish the objects by covering elemental metal structures. piece by piece the furniture is eroded, exposing a soul, the core-function, which will remain over time. presented during milan design week 2013at padiglione italia, the ‘austerity’ collection consists of the ‘hard candy’ coffee table, ‘chocolate’ chair,  ‘grains’ sofa &  hardtack table – each of which can be fully consumed.

‘hard candy’ coffee table image © davide farabegoli

‘the domestic landscape reflects our culture, our taste and our habits. the objects that populate it absorb the atmosphere that pervades the space through their physicality, functionality and identity. ostensibly living intact through good times and also adverse ones, the domestic objects become invisible to us over time with their familiarity. how can furniture react to times of crisis? the decorative elements that were once appreciated, suddenly become superfluous and should evolve to reflect a new era of austerity; the objects become edible and offer themselves to be consumed when needed.’

candy tabletop: 
7 kg hard candy (5.6 kg sugar, 2.1 L light corn syrup, 1.4 L water), 100 gr food waximage © davide farabegoli

‘chocolate’ chairimage © davide farabegoli

chocolate legs & backrest: 24 kg white chocolate (4.8 kg cocoa butter, 3.6 kg milk solids, 0.84 kg milk fat, 12 kg sugar, 0.5 L vanilla extract, 0.4 kg salt)image © davide farabegoli

‘hardtack’ tableimage © davide farabegoli

hardtack table top: 15 kg flour, 5 L water, 360 grams saltcorned beef legs: 36 cans of preserved beefimage © davide farabegoli

‘grains’ sofaimage © davide farabegoli

rice bricks backrest:195 kg rice (in 1 kg bricks), 50 L starch glue (3 kg starch, 300 L water, 3 kg veg. glycerin)beans quilt: 19.5 kg dry beans, 3 kg cottonimage © davide farabegoli