Picture your favorite mug, the one you reach for first thing in the morning. Is it handmade? Is it heavy? Is it, despite its flaws or possible chips, beautiful just as is? Pottery is as ancient as we are, the true mark of civilization. The first synthetic material ever made, pottery is inextricable from the human experience, guiding the ways we eat and socialize for millennia. Following these ancestral lines, the No. 16 Collection by Norm Architects with Ancher Studio fuses antiquity with modernity.
The No. 16 Collection elegantly encapsulates forms we know and love, yet brings an understated modernism that is at once familiar and elevated. With strong, sturdy shapes, and a beautiful glaze, a light taupe with charcoal speckles, this collection, inspired by Japanese design, makes ordinary food service extraordinary. The time and attention that is taken with the production of these vessels lets us know how carefully each one is crafted. These pieces are tried and true, ergonomically considered for the hand, mouth, and eye. This is a testament to the knowledge that the touch of the human hand elevates a design to an actual relationship between maker and user.
“The collection is designed as part of a larger restoration and interior design project, reviving an old neoclassical guesthouse on the north coast of Denmark. The ceramic collection plays a part in a holistic design process, where everything from architecture to interior, furniture, dinnerware and even scent was designed bespoke for the project,” says Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen, architect and partner at Norm Architects.
These wheel-thrown vessels offer an escape into nature that one can display inside. The speckled clay celebrates the natural variances of stone, in a light glaze with a warm depth of color. The uses for the No.16 Collection are endless. As tea culture is revered in many parts of the world, this set enchants and enhances every part of a tea ceremony or drinking ritual. Present fruit, flowers, or minerals in these vessels, adding a lovely neutral tone to an otherwise modern palette. The speckled depth of the glaze almost reminds one of an egg, no two exactly similar, speaking to the handmade nature of the collection.
Ancher Design was established in 2023, a collaboration between Elisabeth Snejbjerg of Copenhagen-based Studio Grey, Rainmaking Innovation, and the owner of their ceramic workshop in Poland. Snejberg has been designing products for over 20 years, particularly ceramics. Her pieces are highly sought after by designers and professionals, because of their functionality, timeless design, and exquisite quality. This means, even in a high pressure environment such as a restaurant, these pieces will last for years.
Norm Architects is a multidisciplinary studio based in Copenhagen, working with skilled designers to create lasting, modern designs. All their work is infused with a sense of quiet minimalism, creating a new way to engage with our senses. Distilling the design down to its essence, the consideration of mind, body, and nature is clear. The collection was originally designed specifically for a guesthouse in Denmark to work with a carefree summer style, close to great forests and bodies of water. These sturdy, rustic shapes of the No. 16 Collection extend into the ethos of Norm Architects, engaging all five of the senses to ground and center us.
For more on the No. 16 Collection, visit normcph.com.
Photography by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen & Sandie Lykke Nolsøe.
