Dezeen Magazine

Sophie Dries adds textures to Traces ceramic and metal vases

French designer Sophie Dries has created a collection of ceramic and metal vases with scored exteriors that retain the marks of production.

Dries partnered with ceramicist Thomas Vivant and Parisian metal artist Mickael Moore to create the Traces range, which features pipe-like sections of metal and rough ceramic surfaces.

The collection is named for the marks made while producing the objects – such as those created by potters in raw clay, or by hammers on marble.

Vases and Table by Sophie Dries Architect for Le Paradox

"The range features traces of design history, from primitive pottery to the contemporary 1980s with a reference to the Memphis group and more specifically Ettore Stotsass," said Dries.

The designer trained as an architect in Paris, and worked on a range of interior and architectural projects before setting up her own studio in 2014.

Each of the vases is numbered and handmade, and will be produced by request only. The pieces vary in style: some feature slender metal cylinders for holding flowers, while others include bulbous ceramic bases that have been scored with lines.

Vases and Table by Sophie Dries Architect for Le Paradox

"The contrast between black clay and shiny metals were important as much as the paradox between smooth metals and scarified textures in the ceramics," said the designer.

To display the receptacles, Dries also created a console table comprising a single piece of marble with jagged edges, which the designer sculpted herself. The tabletop is set on a metal framework that was designed to fit precisely to the edges of the marble, before being created in waxed steel by Moore.

Vases and Table by Sophie Dries Architect for Le Paradox

The collection was designed for the showroom of creative agency Le Paradox, which was set up by Parisian fashion editor Cecilia Musmeci.

Other unconventional vases covered by Dezeen include Moreno Ratti's collection of marble volumes suspended in transparent resin, and Bilge Nur Saltik's kaleidoscopic glass vessels.