ʁituˈaːl
How can an old tradition such as the Mate ritual relate with knew technologies, without losing its function?
In this project I decided to analyze this South American tradition, looking at it from a new angle.
My goal was to find a new design language, through new materials and forms, to describe this old custom, without changing anything to the ritual itself.
Mate is a symbol of friendship and fellowship. It is the first thing you are supposed to offer a guest. Something you share with other people. As a matter of fact, during the ritual, everybody drinks from the same cup, sharing the straw.
I have mainly worked with experiments, trying new techniques such as 3d modelling and printing.
I also tried out new materials and sometimes had to accept things not turning out as I expected them.
I decided to tear apart the tools necessary for the Mate ritual, the calabaza (the cup) & the bombilla (the filtering straw), searching for a new and different way to combine them.
What came out, in the end, is a series of four handmade ceramic cups, each one unique in shape and colour, corresponding to four 3D printed filters. In addition, a simple glass straw, to be inserted in the filters.
The clean and geometrical structure of the filters contrasts with the organic shapes of the ceramics, giving a new face to this thousand- year-old ritual.
Ceramic Mate Set III
Gold & Silver plated Mate Filters (no. I, II, III, IV)
Ceramic Mate no. I, II, III, IV
Ceramic Mate Set no. II
Ceramic Mate no. IV
Ceramic Mate Set no. I
Silver plated Brass Filter (no. IV)
Ceramic Mate Set no. I
