Resin Homewares Made From Cleaning Sponges

Japanese designer Yosuke Matsushita’s collection titled ‘Colonia’ features interior treasure boxes with textured resin surfaces, made from humble kitchen sponges.

Matsushita transformed the sponge’s material form, from malleable and squishy to hard and solid. The designer experimented with a melted resin-mix combined with turquoise and yellow paint colors, dipping three sides of the sponges in the liquid and leaving the last side untouched. After solidification, Matsushita removed the remaining sponge inside, like the fluffy parts of a bread roll. The result of the experiment is a set of solid shell cases in various rectangular sizes. The versatile resin molds have a multitude of uses: mini vase, jewelry box, sunglasses case, soap holder, trinket keeper, or simple art object. The project aims to work as a counteraction of the homogenised design industry. “We are surrounded by many colorless things made from mass-production”, he explains. “This product has possibility to make our life more colorful, through actual making experience and feeling of the texture, scent and tone”.