“What I have always wanted is…”: The Wish List goes to Cologne

Sir Terence Conran, Benchmark, the London Design Festival and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) invited Amanda Levete to mentor emerging talent Win Assakul, to design and make something she has always wanted, but never been able to find.

As Amanda explains:

“We often have dinners at home for 18 people. I have always wanted a long, shallow bowl to run almost the length of the table. But for smaller dinners of say 6 –12 I don’t want such a long bowl. By making it extendable we resolve this. And if it is made in sections that connect together it is easy to store. For inspiration: there is a rich tradition of African wooden bowls that reveal the wood grain, some are engraved with a detail”

The result, designed and fabricated by Win, was 6×500, an extendable, shallow bowl for fruit, cold meats, cheeses, and salads. The six sections can be connected together to make a bowl of various lengths, up to three metres long. When not in use, the pieces are stored in a beautiful box.

The bowl was crafted in American hardwood during ‘making week’ at Benchmark’s Berkshire workshops at the beginning of July 2014. It was on display at the V&A during the London Design Festival in September and October 2014 and in Barcelona at the new design museum, Disseny Hub, as part of the “Design Market” in December. Now the bowl has travelled to Cologne, Germany for the trade fair, Interzum, which will be on display from 16 to 19 May 2015.