Pia’s Picks: vases that could’ve come out of a computer program
31.8.2026
Translation: Katherine Martin
With their distorted shapes, dearth of right angles and colours that could’ve bled right out of a screen, these home accessories remind me of 3D renders. Those unreal spaces that come into being online before being made reality elsewhere. This is exactly what makes them so enticing.
I absolutely love looking at 3D renders. Rooms that come to life on screen, where gravity temporarily ceases to exist, walls spring up in colours rarely found in real life, objects transform their shape without looking broken and light appears from some indiscernible source. Recently, I found that exact same aesthetic on an actual shelf.
Why should you go for this look?
It’s no surprise that digital images are changing our perception of colour and shape. As colour trend researcher Jane Boddy explains in Icon Magazine, colours originally associated with illuminated screens have long since found their way into physical objects. She calls them «backlit brights» – colours with an almost magnetic intensity.
Source: Gilde
The artist Lucy Hardcastle also describes how combining muted pastel tones and bright colours blurs the line between the real and the virtual.
Years ago, I spoke to 3D artists such as Hannes Lippert, Charlotte Taylor and Alexis Christodoulou about imaginary houses that’ll never be built and the freedom rendering offers compared to a traditional photo shoot. That same sense of freedom goes into these vases.
Source: Hübsch
Intricate, not angular
These vases have very few right angles, and their shapes are filled with movement. Looking as if they’ve been moulded by hand rather than turned on a pottery wheel, they’re characterised by flowing lines, contours that merge into one another and shapes that look temptingly stackable. Some have a golden glaze that lends them extra depth, while others vary so much in shape that they look different from every angle.
On-screen colours
Delicate pink, fresh mint-green and deep midnight-blue are all part of the same design family, but more reminiscent of a digital mood board than classic interior porcelain. The collection also contains a hand-blown glass vase in translucent green with white accents. Its surface refracts light so strongly that it appears to change colour depending on the angle of the light. This detail looks almost otherworldly in photos.
So there you have it: a whole lot of on-screen aesthetic for your real shelf. You don’t need any software – just your watch list.
Rosenthal Phi City - Abyss - Vase 10 cm
1x
Boltze Home Irena
1x
EUR69,57
Hübsch Lote Vase Sand
1x, 3.20 l
Rosenthal Fast - Cameo - Vase 14 cm
1x
Rosenthal Node - Coral - Vase 10 cm
1x
Rosenthal Hop - Fossil - Vase 14 cm
1x
Rosenthal Skum - Mint - Vase 14 cm
1x
EUR64,99
Gilde Vase Candys
1x
EUR50,99
Gilde Vase Olbia bright
In my Pia’s Picks series, I regularly showcase my favourite finds – things I might not need, but definitely want.
Pia Seidel
Senior Editor
Pia.Seidel@digitecgalaxus.chLike a cheerleader, I celebrate good design and bring you closer to everything furniture- and interior design-related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior finds, track down trends and interview creative minds about their work.
Opinion
This is a subjective opinion of the editorial team. It doesn't necessarily reflect the position of the company.
Show allThese articles might also interest you
Show all
5 comments
later