Designer Bonnie Hvillum's Natural Material Studio has created conceptual ceramics from clay made out of powdered seashells from Denmark's Noma restaurant.
The Copenhagen-based designer teamed up with the restaurant, which is known for its locally sourced produce, and ceramicist Esben Kaldahl to develop the seashell-based material.
Some of the clays resemble coral
The Shellware project used donated leftover scallop and other seafood shells from Noma to create the crockery.
"I was curious to work with seafood shells and explore the possibilities, and also how they could be brought back into the restaurant in a new narrative," Hvillum, who is the founder of Natural Material Studio, told Dezeen.
Hvillum worked with a marine research center to create the material She based her material research on learning the properties and build-up of different types of shells.
"I connected with marine experts from Kristineberg Marine Center in Sweden to understand the shells better," Hvillum explained.
"And from there follows several material experiments based on hypotheses I build from all the different knowledge I have gathered."
Shells are heated and then turned into powder
She discovered that the calcium carbonate seashells could be turned into calcium oxide by heating the shells. This creates a similar base material to bone ash used to make bone china.
"When I started heat-treating the shells to 900 degrees, all organic matter was burned away, and I s...