A wonderful twist on how crockery gets stored in cabinets, the Gere Multifunctional Crockery Shelf turns your plates into decorative panels that contribute to the furniture’s aesthetic. The Gere Multifunctional Crockery Shelf looks like a gorgeous piece of furniture with abstract art on the front… but what appears to be art is, in fact, a series of partitioned plates for eating different food. Each plate has a uniquely different partition design, which not only contributes to the shelf’s eye-catching facade, but also makes eating a rather fun experience! Behind each plate lies a storage area for your other crockery, giving you a fun, yet functional shelf for your kitchen!
Designer: Florian Beser
The inspiration behind Gere stems from the growing trend of minimalism and the need to optimize small living spaces. The project focuses on addressing the issue of large shelves filled with round plates that result in wasted space. The goal is to create a crockery shelf that is compact yet caters to the storage needs of individuals in smaller households.
To achieve this goal, the design team employed a comprehensive research process that included surveys, market analysis, interviews with the target audience, and the creation of a user journey map. The insights gained from this research provided a deep understanding of kitchen storage preferences, structuring items in the kitchen, and interaction points with shelves and plates.
Gere seamlessly combines shelves and plates, utilizing the plates to form a relief-like front for the shelf. This unique design creates additional interior space that can be efficiently utilized to store more crockery, cups, glasses, and other kitchen essentials. The gridlike structure of Gere allows for scalability, enabling larger or smaller versions to cater to different household sizes.
Ideal for placement in kitchens or dining rooms, Gere can be hung on the wall. The individual rows of plates can be folded down, providing easy access to stored items or allowing the removal of a plate from the front. The plates themselves feature segments, enabling users to separate main courses and side dishes on a single plate for convenient transportation. In addition to the front storage, Gere offers additional shelf space for storing crockery, cups, glasses, and more, making it a modularly expandable crockery set.
The functionality of Gere relies on the careful consideration of material properties. The shelf is crafted from local oak wood, chosen for its sturdiness and resistance to water. The plates, conceptualized using 3D graphic software, are 3D printed, translated into plaster molds, and ultimately cast in porcelain.
Specifications for Gere include 240mm x 240mm x 20mm dimensions for the plates and a prototype shelf measuring 1200mm x 200mm x 1300mm. The customizable size of the shelf ensures that Gere can be tailored to the specific needs and preferences of different users.
Gere stands as a testament to the marriage of form and function in the realm of kitchen storage. Its innovative design not only maximizes space utilization but also brings an element of aesthetic appeal to the utilitarian aspect of crockery storage. As the demands of modern living continue to evolve, Gere offers a practical and elegant solution for those seeking to optimize their living spaces without compromising on style or functionality.
