1000 Vases

A vase is never merely a container. As Georges Braque once said, "the vase gives form to emptiness": ever since the earliest human civilizations, this object has had a purpose that is greater than its function and it perennially invites experimentation in shape and expression.

The 1,000 vases presented in this book offer an eloquent demonstration of this fact. They come from 35 different countries and more than 80% of them have been made by women or independent designers and artists born between 1988 and 1993—each of whom was invited to create a free interpretation of the same archetype, resulting in a spectrum of the infinite creativity inspired by the many possible versions of a single item. Made from an enormous range of materials (ceramic, terracotta, porcelain, metal, wood and glass, as well as natural fibers, industrial waste and recycled plastic), using techniques both ancient and ultramodern (3D printing) and belonging to different categories (from amphora to jar, jug to carafe), almost all sit on the borderline that simultaneously unites and separates art, design and craftsmanship.