There are some occasions when even Ikea can't supply a stylish solution, as lifeiscarbon® discovered last week when we had to buy a replacement washing up bowl. Luckily we stumbled across a recent offering from one of our favorite Danish designers, Ole Jensen. Rather appropriately it's called Washing-up Bowl and Brush.....which is precisely what it is. We love its simple and straight forward design...a rubber bowl, which is highly flexible yet very stable, that comes with a plain beech wood brush with natural bristles. If we must have a washing up bowl on display, we'd prefer to have one that looks this good.
Ole Jensen graduated from The School of Art in Kolding and The Danish Academy of Architecture. He has taught at several design schools, exhibited widely across Europe and is a member of several design associations and councils. He has won several design awards and been featured in several publications - most recently in the book Danish Designers by Erik Steffensen.
'Washing-up Bowl and Brush' is produced by one of our favorite companies, Normann Copenhagen and comes in a range of colors. They also produce Jensen Bowl and Dustpan and Brush, two further Ole Jensen designs.
Articles about Dustpan and Brush can be found at Tree Hugger and Better Living Through Design
More about Ole Jensen and his designs below.... The idea: “The washing up bowl turned out to be even better than the original idea. During a design process both form and idea adapt to the design it selves, which is an interesting aspect. By visualising the problem you are able to solve problems in the design in the early process. The challenge with the washing up bowl was the inflexible form. By using rubber the material is flexible and offers a contemporary version of a new, yet an everyday icon, that touches the heart.”
Inspiration: “I am inspired by the closeness and the banal in the reality that surrounds me. When I am in my kitchen I can suddenly think of the reason why there isn’t a decent pan or pot with the ability to do such and such. That is how I got the idea for the washing up bowl. The standard bowls were inflexible and they didn’t appeal to an attractive washing up experience. And because no other designers had attempted to solve the problem this idea offered a great deal of liberty.”
Approach: “Ideas and materials are closely related. The idea take its form only when working with the material. I only trust a particular form when I have touched it with my fingers. I am able to communicate with the producer as well as the end user through the particular object and I see myself as a fertile minimalist. All counts. Neither more nor less!”
Vision: “I don’t believe in “anonymous”. I aim at finding the unique in the simple design and vice versa. I would like to design an entire public kitchen from one end to the other ... But apart from that every single day brings new design challenges which I would like to take up...”
Jensen Bowl
Dustpan and Brush
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