Blue Glass Lotus Bowls and Voda Cups by Studio Prepa at OEN Shop
I took a short trip over to Finland last week to document some of the countries architecture. One obvious location worth visiting was the home and studio of Alvar Aalto, but I also made a point to visit the Arabia factory to see some of the glass works by the likes of Tapio Wirkkala and Aalto himself. Seeing these functional wares made me ponder why many glassblowers turn to sculpture as their creative output.
I think one of the main reasons is our mentality towards functional ware here in the West, we often consider them as “throw-away” objects that are indispensable. For me there’s something very appealing about revolving around handmade objects on a daily basis. That’s why I was drawn to the functional tableware made by Studio Prepa, husband and wife duo Katsuhisa and Mizuho Hira.
Their work really sums up the Japanese idea of simplicity and understated beauty. The new Voda Cups and Lotus Bowls that we commissioned in blue are not perfectly symmetrical and all have their own quirks, some might call it wabi, but this asymmetric nature is what gives the cups and bowls functionality as they’re easy to pick up and handle. Hopefully you like these beautiful bowls and will also check out the other products that we’ve restocked from Studio Prepa.