Auxetic bowl (2008)

Auxetic materials or structures are systems with a negative Poisson's ratio and so often have high energy absorption and fracture resistance. They are used in applications such as body armour, knee pads and sponge mops.

However, designers Mark and Angela Gilbert decided to use auxetics in a more creative way and design a range of decorative bowls.

“We discovered auxetic structures which when pulled lengthways also expand widthways,” says Mark. “We developed a pattern and found when cuting into an acrylic sheet we could use the pattern to manipulate the material in ways which would otherwise not be possible, forming undulating curves without any pleating or stretching of the material.”

Gilbert makes the bowls by laser cutting a satin-finish acrylic sheet then draping the material by hand. The lasercutting process polishes the edges of the bowl, which glow because of how the light contrasts with the matt surface, while the geometry of the pattern allows for complex curvatures, he says.

The auxetic bowl costs £145 and details on how to purchase the item are available at Gilbert13.co.uk.