Dezeen Magazine

The Wiggle Pipe by Nik Bentel

Nikolas Bentel creates The Wiggle Pipe in "absurd" Memphis style

New York designer Nikolas Bentel has created a handmade porcelain pipe for smoking marijuana with an unconventional wiggle form.

The Wiggle Pipe by Nik Bentel

The Wiggle Pipe features an unconventional snaking shape and three bold bright colours: a blue mouthpiece connects to a curved yellow stem, which then attaches to a white bowl where the dry cannabis herb is placed.

Bentel, who recently created similarly squiggled-shaped glasses, designed the pipe to draw on the "absurd colour and shapes" of items created by the Memphis group, a 1980s design movement lead by Italian architect Ettore Sottsass.

The Wiggle Pipe by Nik Bentel

He then developed the size and proportions through a series of design trials to ensure optimum comfort and "ease of use" for the smoker.

"After going through many iterations, manufacturing processes and material tests, we figured out how to make The Wiggle Pipe using porcelain, while still maintaining a large airstream," Bentel told Dezeen.

Other details include the tiny hole, known as a carb, on the side of the bowl. When covered the hole suspends all air except what is from the bowl to offer an ideal smoking experience.

While fragile, the porcelain pipe is strong enough to endure machine washes. "Because of the high quality porcelain, it makes an all too satisfying "clink" when it is placed on a table, just like a delicate teacup," the designer said.

A limited amount of 100 pipes are available for sale on Bentel's website.

The Wiggle Pipe follows a series of absurd projects by Bentel, who is a resident of the New Museum's design incubator.

The designer has reshaped chalk to create architectural drawing toys for children and also tried to pass off his naked body as a furniture collection.

The Wiggle Pipe by Nik Bentel

His other projects involve chewing pieces of wood to create a functional stool and a range of patterned shirts that change colour in response to air pollution or radioactivity.

The legalisation of marijuana in states across the United States has motivated many designers and artists to create cannabis related products. College graduate John Quick similarly strayed away from the typical straight form, with a collection of donut-shaped pipes.