FLOAT GLASSWARE BY MOLO DESIGN
by Matt Chapman, 06/21/06
Inhabitat loves the work of Molo designers Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen. Readers will remember us (and the rest of the design community) gushing over their Softwall after this year’s ICFF, at which they won the “Body of Work” award.
Included in that body is the incredible “Float” line of glass and barware. Both the clear and frosted versions radiate a purity and crispness that we find utterly irresistable. The distinctive suspended bowl design insulates your hand and protects your furniture, making coasters unnecessary. Instead, condensation from cold drinks beads on the bottom of the glass, which heightens the delicate appeal of the design.
According to the web site, each Float piece is handcrafted and made entirely of German borosilicate glass. Perhaps this material rings a bell? No? Maybe you know it by it’s commercial name: Pyrex.
And there’s the rub. It is true, like Molo says, that borosilicate glass is “extremely pure”, durable, resists heat and is chemically inert (besides being used for Bodums and beakers, it is widely used to encase spent plutonium rods). The material, however, is also fabricated at higher temperatures than traditional glass (requiring more energy) and is not recyclable.
Which begs the question: does every piece of scientific glassware in the world just get thrown away? Surely there is somewhere that all the beakers and test tubes can go to be happily born again in the flames of refabrication? Let us pray.
The Molo team’s hearts are in the right place though. The glassware has a definite heirloom quality that would seem to make recycling irrelevant and is efficiently packaged in reusable/recyclable cardboard tubes.
$50 and up from Velocity Art and Design
A similar double-walled borosilicate glass is offered by bodum. Their ASSAM espresso glasses are fantastic.