Thousands upon thousands of “flawed” plates, saucers, bowls and cups were stacked to form a display platform at Maruhiro, a Japanese ceramics store that’s been producing pottery for roughly 400 years. Each of the 25,000 pieces were discarded by local production facilities because of being imperfect. Typically, the flawed pieces are discarded into pits that have been used since the early 17th century. The strict quality control is requires individual pieces to inspected after the initial firing process; but before the colored glaze is applied so that the comparisons can be more easily made.
Yusuke Seki was the display designer, and in order to make a platform that was strong enough to withstand weight, she filled the tea sets and dinnerware with concrete….essentially converting them into “bricks” that form the elevated display platform. Now, the platform is walkable, which is quite a sight at a ceramics shop!
This amazing photo gives full perspective of how striking Yusuke Seti’s store display.
Image courtesy of: Yusuke Seki
The visually confusion, weight-bearing display is made up of 25,000 discarded pieces of crockery from nearly production facilities.
Image courtesy of: Dezeen
All of the display and imperfect ceramic pieces are neutral in color as the colored glaze doesn’t get applied until after the first firing process.
Image courtesy of: Domus