sugar glasses by amélia desnoyers at DMY berlin 2013

sugar glasses by amélia desnoyers at DMY berlin 2013

one of the ‘new talents’ this year at DMY international design festival berlin 2013 is french designer amélia desnoyers with her ‘sugar glasses’ – a production line showing the transformation of the sweet substance shaped into vessels for an alternative drinking experience. also known as the DMY youngsters, ‘the new talents’ section presents the work of up-and-coming designers which exhibit forward-thinking design approaches and research-based practices.

demonstrating the transformation of sugar into a glass shapevideo © amélia desnoyers

‘sugar is a basic cooking product, it is a solid material, which can be transformed into a liquid and back to a different solid again. the transformation of this eatable product opens possibilities for experimenting ephemeral shapes and designs. from the chemical reaction of sugar, water and glucose warmed up together to 160 degrees celsius, the mix offers similar qualities to glass (transparency,  fragility, plasticity…) looking at the glass industry, I decided to put in parallel with the technique of glass blowing and sugar casting to create a new object; a sugar glass which melts in contact with water and becomes a drink. materials, shapes, colors and flavours are confronted, the association result in a new experience of drinking.’ – amélia desnoyers

‘sugar glasses’ by amélia desnoyer

 this is not the first time the sweet substance has been employed as a production material. the medium, as well as the rotation-moulding technique has been previously explored by mexican designer fernando laposse who created a colorful collection of edible cups, for consumption. see designboom’s coverage of laposse’s versions of sugar glasses here.

various shapes

the materials and moulds used to produce the glasses

the production line

sketch of the production stations

drawing of the making process

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berlin design week starts with the opening of the 11th DMY international design festival at berlin’s historic tempelhof airport:from june 5 to 9, 2013 DMY international design festival will present more than 500 designers from around 30 countries who show pioneering products and prototypes at berlin tempelhof airport. for the second year in a row, DMY hosts the design award of the federal republic of germany and presents all submissions and nominations in a large survey exhibition, which will also be on display at berlin tempelhof airport. as an additional attraction, DMY presents in cooperation with create berlin the 2012 successfully launched ‘night shift – long night of design studios’: more than 50 studios open their doors on the evening of june 6 throughout berlin.

central exhibitionin the hangars of berlin tempelhof airport, over 500 international designers, companies and universities present new products, prototypes and material innovations. 14 renowned universities provide insight into their current design research while design institutions from all over the world show group exhibitions as well as country and city presentations, including for instance the lodz art center or the house of design in groningen (NL).

country focus – polandpoland is the fifth host country of the DMY international design festival. in cooperation with the polish institute berlin, this years’ country focus draws particular attention on the design landscape of poland. with presentations from more than 40 design studios, companies, design universities and thematic exhibitions, the focus provides a comprehensive look at the contemporary design production of our second largest neighbouring country: from retrospectives of established design studios and developments of established brand producers, project shows from all leading design schools in the country to new projects and prototypes of talented young designers. in the professional field, the focus is on premium brands in the branches of interior design, furniture, lighting and home accessories.