When you go to a streetcorner coffee shop in Japan, a waiter will serve you a small glass of water. The image of drinking glasses stacked on the counter next to a water pitcher is a familiar, even nostalgic one for café regulars. These glasses are mostly mass-produced by machine. Such glasses are characterized by partition lines due to the divided mold, as well as by a round rim. We wanted to create a handmade, mold-blown version of these glasses. Our thinking was that mold-blowing would provide a smooth surface texture and a delicate look to the rim, yielding glasses that were both functional and beautiful.
The challenge was how to make the edge between the top and bottom halves as sharp as possible. Once glass is removed from the furnace, it cools and hardens quickly. The viscosity of glass blown in a mold increases before reaching the inner corners, causing the glass to harden in a rounded shape. Resolving this problem required a trial-and-error process of modifying the mold and adjusting the blowing speed and intensity. Finally, we perfected a simple yet elegant glass combining the functionality of stackable glasses suited for daily use with the special features of mold-blown glass: a pleasant touch to the lips and a thin, lightweight design.
