Attimo: A Tea Set That Captures the Essence of Time

Designed by Mikhail Chistiakov, Attimo Transforms Tea Time into an Artistic Experience

The design's unique properties lie in its attempt to freeze a moment in time. The handle, designed to resemble a falling stone, creates the illusion of ripples running across the porcelain surface. This frozen picture gives rise to the illusion that the solid material becomes soft and pliable, akin to the original kaolin clay from which the objects were made. Thus, every time one uses the utilitarian items of the set, they touch a frozen moment.

The tea set is made from bone china, a material chosen for its stability during the firing process and its ability to reduce wall thickness and weight. The technical specifications of the set include a teapot, sugar bowl, and cup, each with their own dimensions and capacities. The handle, unusual for traditional porcelain, has a complex bionic shape with variable thickness, making the use of the set items very ergonomic and suitable for different people.

The project, which started in 2019 and finished in 2020, was carried out in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. An important part of the design research was finding a handle shape that would resemble a stone, yet maintain a balance with technology and ease of use. The found shape corresponds to the general idea of the project but resists deformation during firing, a common challenge with porcelain.

Despite the complex asymmetric shape of service items being difficult to implement in porcelain, the choice of bone china as the material, the use of the hollow handle technique, and the proactive correction of deformations during firing, made it possible to achieve an ideal geometry. The implementation of these points is fully consistent with the concept, making Attimo a perfect blend of art and functionality.

Attimo, meaning "moment" in Italian, is a testament to the designer's ability to transform an everyday object into a piece of art. The tea set, made of first-class thin-walled bone china, is a metaphor for a stopped moment of time. The design was awarded the Golden A' Bakeware, Tableware, Drinkware and Cookware Design Award in 2021, a testament to its outstanding design and trendsetting creation.