Marcus Cresswell’s mirror-studded Disco Ball Pizza Oven drops the beat while raising the crust!
I’m not sure if I love this oven more than the pizza going inside it, but Cresswell’s disco ball-shaped pizza-maker definitely has my attention. Standing at 5.7 feet tall and measuring 3.6 feet wide, the pizza oven rotates independently on its base like a disco ball would, and comes studded with over 34,000 tiny hand-fitted mirror units that give this oven its signature style. The inside features a stone core with a cordierite cooking base that lets the oven hit temperatures of 400°C (752°F), allowing it to cook a perfect Neapolitan-style pizza in under 90 seconds. Gluten never looked this glamorous!
Designer: Marcus Cresswell
While most pizza ovens are built for utility, Cresswell’s “Discovens” has an appearance that’s almost jewel-like. The spherical pizza oven stands on a stable platform that also allows it to independently rotate 360°, giving the 34,000 mirrors on its surface a chance to reflect light in unique ways. The disco ball also cooks pizzas, breads, and other sorts of baked dishes in under a few minutes thanks to its ripping-hot temperatures.
The oven features a stone core and comes with a cordierite base that helps it reach temperatures higher than ceramics. Quite like traditional wood-fired ovens seen in Italy and around the world, the ‘Discovens’ can hit high temperatures of 750°F in just under 20 minutes, allowing it to cook pizzas and other breads at incredibly high speeds to develop that beautiful crispy burnt outer crust while the insides still remain incredibly soft and flavorful.
Developed over a period of 3 years, Cresswell’s made 5 prototypes of the Discovens that have gone to their respective patrons and pizzaiolos. The pizza oven comes pre-assembled, and accepts wood as fuel to cook your pizza pie. “A lot of research went into the shape of the stone core oven; for air flow (diameter, length and position of the flue, and size, length and shape of oven mouth, for the best air draw), and ratio of air flow and oven size (using fibonacci sequence) for best functionality,” Cresswell mentions. The oven takes 20-25 minutes to heat up to a working temperature range of 350-400°C, and roughly 4-6 hours to cool down. While the mirrors look incredibly eye-catching, it’s professionally recommended that children stay away from the oven while it’s in use. Each oven also comes with an insulating door for controlled-temperature cooking, letting you slow-cook skillets and steak meals.
The Discovens Pizza Oven is a Bronze Winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2023.
