Creating the perfect fusion between traditional and modern
design can deliver a fantastic final product design, especially when combining
a mixture of classic materials and forms with modern day minimalist
aesthetics.
This week I stumbled across a very simple but smart
household item built to contain BaiJiu, a traditional and very popular Chinese
alcoholic beverage. Made delicately from
smooth Chinese porcelain ceramic and crystal clear glass, the beverage flask/container
is the perfect item for yourself or a gathering of friends and family to enjoy.
So what is so special about this flask?
The product is made up entirely of 3 components- a ceramic
base, middle body and glass top stored, but the special thing about this
container is that it has a function allowing you to heat up the stored beverage
if one chooses to consume the drink warm, rather than cold. How does this work?
The middle body part is filled partially with water and placed on top of the
base part, which has a platform for a small candle to be fitted, allowing heat
to rise and eventually heating up the contained water. Once heated to a certain
temperature, Bai Jiu or a chosen beverage can be poured into the glass tube of
which can then be allocated inside the middle body part, resulting in a warmed
up drink.
This is a great example of traditional material selection
and classic raw material usage in order to heat up a liquid. The choice of
ceramic can be subtly heated, but not burnt, by taking advantage of the flame
in the lower partition of the device, proving that you not need excess
electronic components in order to produce such functions, but purely the use of
classic raw materials.
In terms of form, the flask has a minimal but elegant visual appearance, consisting purely of smooth spherical shapes and crispy, clean curves. Whilst this helps to promote an elegant aesthetic, it also supports the function of heating the alcohol as heat can travel around inside the entire container. Furthermore, this assists with the handling of water when serving the drink, providing a smooth pour. Rather than applying added surface decoration and artificial finishing, the flask has been left in its raw material state (With a slight varnish for ceramic protection) which really gives off an organic and crisp feel for the product, contrasting with the modern way it has be manufactured.
Rather than the traditional hand crafted way in which you would have expected the product to be made, a more technical /high-end approach has been applied, to deliver precise curves, cut-outs, smooth edges and overall accuracy. Methods such as machine blow moulding have been used to produce the glass beverage container, whilst machinery has also been used to create ventilation cut outs in the base for smoke to fumigate.
From assessing this product we can evaluate that a mixture
of traditional materials can really work well with modern minimal forms to
produce sleek, elegant aesthetics, whilst maintaining the raw/organic visuals
and providing a fully functional device.
