About

I have been printing vases for as long as I have been 3D printing. They started out as a by-product: anyone running a 3D printing workshop since 2012 constantly needs samples to show colours and materials. A vase works well for that – it has a lot of surface, it catches the light, you can see every gradient. The samples did not stay on the shelf. I gave them away.

In spring 2024 Seraina Serrat of Floral Lokal asked whether I could design a vase to her ideas – exclusively for her shop. We did that. She liked the result, so did I, and it sold well.

That turned into a series of its own. I designed further models and took them to Christmas markets: in 2024 to the Mehrspur in Zurich, in 2025 to the Advent i de Altstadt in Aarau and the winter market at Tanzhaus Zurich. By now the Schneiderei Kathrin Widmer in Suhr sells my vases as well.

Why no two are alike

The vases are mostly made from multi-coloured filaments whose colours land differently on the object every time. That is deliberate, but it can only be steered to a degree – it is a property of the material. Two prints of the same model therefore look different.

Because that is so, every vase is photographed individually. What you see in 360 degrees in the gallery is exactly the vase that will be delivered. No catalogue image.

The number on the base

Every vase gets a number of its own. I stamp it onto a round piece of paper bearing the seal of the project and cast it into the base of the vase. It sits there under the sealant and cannot be removed.

There are two reasons for this. One is practical: every piece is on record, and the number ties the vase to exactly those images that were shown in the shop. If you pick it up again later, you can look up which one it is. And I do not ship the wrong vase by mistake.

The other matters more. If every piece looks different, it needs something that makes it this one – otherwise it stays a random specimen. The number is that something.

What I do by hand

Printed vases are not watertight by default – in vase mode, which I use for most of them, a single continuous wall is created. That is why I seal every vase by hand before it leaves the house. In the same step the number is cast into the base. After that the vase holds water and is suitable for cut flowers.

Custom designs and resale

Just as the first vase came about for Floral Lokal, others follow: if you need a vase to your own ideas – for your shop, as a series, as a single piece – you can commission me.

And if you run a business these vases would suit: I am looking for further resellers. At present the vases can be found at Floral Lokal and at the Schneiderei Kathrin Widmer in Suhr. A message to info@theshinyvaseproject.ch is enough.

If you would rather design your own, teil3.ch offers a vase generator for creating and printing your own shapes.