WHO Design Studio is presenting a group exhibition: The Collector’s Room during the Milan Design Week 2026. The exhibition aims to step away from traditional exhibition spaces while moving toward a private home. Co-curated by Teo Sandigliano, the exhibition unveils products that not only serve a function but also narrate a story of an already lived life.
The exhibition is presented by Studio BurntShell, an England-based design studio that focuses on developing bio-based and degradable materials and then transforming them into handmade, functional objects. This time, the studio brings its latest work, BurntShell: Reshaped Collection, to Milan, featuring a table lamp, a vase, and an incense holder.
Developed from discarded eggshells and natural binders, the pieces of the collection explore transformation through burnt eggshells. The collection focuses on waste-to-material innovation. transforming food waste into sculptural, biodegradable products.
The lighting unit of the collection flaunts a design defined by raw, irregular shapes, resulting from the material’s own performance during the drying process. The studio avoids artificial colors; instead, tonal variants from cream to earthy browns are achieved through production methods, specifically balancing burnt and raw eggshells.
The BurntShell lamp is intended to look and feel raw, featuring visible pores and surface shifts that celebrate the imperfections of eggshell composite. The base of the lamp is crafted from the signature burnt eggshell and alginate composite, providing a sturdy, textured foundation. The shell/shade uses a tapioca-starch recipe, which is highly biodegradable and takes on a more fluid, organic shape as it sets.
The collection also features a vase and an incense holder that also embrace irregularity and material honesty. The studio tells Homecrux, “Rather than fully controlling the outcome, we work with the material’s own reactions, allowing shifts in color, texture, and form to emerge. So in our case, form follows material. This allows us to understand the material and explore to achieve bespoke products.”
Follow Homecrux on Google News!
