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Today eco enthusiasts like to know where the products they buy are coming from, so that they can eat locally grown food ^[4] and purchase crafts from area artisans ^[5]. The ceramicists at Atelier NL ^[6] took cues from this intrinsic desire for regionally-produced goods and produced a line of pottery that is geotagged ^[7] with the location of each area farm where their clay was sourced. Just think: You could potentially eat vegetables that were grown in same soil that the bowl is made from.

Each of Atelier NL ^[6]‘s vessels is marked with a code that relates to a farm from a 460-square-kilometer polder (a Dutch derived work for low land area) in the central Netherlands ^[8]. At the invitation of Jurgen Bey ^[9] and Rianne Makkink, Atelier Designers took up artists’ residencies here to study the creation and development of this agricultural area called Noordoostpolder ^[10].

We love how the designers capitalized on the variation of colors found in the natural soils ^[11] in different parts of the region. They discovered yellow earth in Brunssum, a smooth and shiny dark brown in Woerden, and a rough terra cotta in Gilze-Rijen. Atelier NL ^[6] designer Nadine Sterk explains that, “A bucket filled with earth is anonymous, but the stories of the farmer who works the earth lend it its identity.”

Atelier NL recently received a prestigious Re:Vision Design Award ^[12] for their collection. You will be happy to know that Dutch ceramic manufacturer Makkum ^[13] has taken Atelier’s concept to commercial production. You can find the range for sale through their web site ^[13].

+ Atelier NL ^[6]

Via Dwell ^[14]

Photographs are by Paul Scala