Pumpkin Paper Vase
Retailer: Purves and Purves // Date: April 2005Made from recycled newspapers the Pumpkin Paper Vase shows how designers can re-use existing materials in innovative ways. The vase, like the pumpkin it is designed to imitate, is relatively easy to damage and will not last forever, copying its namesake in behaviour as well as appearance. Despite being mass produced every vase is unique because of the different patterns made by the recycled newspaper.
The Pumpkin Vase has been designed to reflect the natural shape of the pumpkin. The edge-on view of the newspaper in its construction creates an unusual pattern and provides a tactile and interesting surface.
The Pumpkin Vase is made from recycled newspapers that are die-cut and bound together like a book. Each vase comes from a different selection of newspaper pages and so each one is unique even though it is a mass produced product. Each vase also has a recycled aluminium insert so that the flowers can be placed in water. The insert is easy to remove for cleaning and refilling.
The Pumpkin Vase was primarily designed to hold and display flowers. As with all vases it needs to hold water to help the flowers survive. However, vases are often kept as decorative items and displayed without flowers. The Pumpkin Vase is an interesting design with or without flowers.
The Pumpkin Vase was commissioned by a retailer and was intended to be sold to customers in the USA and UK. The use of recycled paper demonstrates that it is possible to recycle used objects effectively into new and useful things. Mass production makes it relatively cheap but it still requires energy and other resources to take the original newspapers and turn them into the new object.
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