Ashwa Nova Edible Art by Abhimanyu Goel and Aakanksha Jain is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 Bronze A' Design Award in Food, Beverage and Culinary Arts Design Competition Category.
BronzeCulinary Art· 2026
Ashwa Nova Edible Art
by Abhimanyu Goel and Aakanksha Jain
Client: Modesi Designs Pte Ltd
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Culinary Art Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #183490The Design
About Ashwa Nova Edible Art
Ashwa Nova is a 3D crafted chocolate bar that translates cultural storytelling into an edible form. Inspired by the symbolic horse, the design features high relief motifs framed within a layered lattice geometry. Enabled by advanced fabrication, the bar achieves precision and depth beyond conventional molding. It overcomes the geometric release paradox by using flexible 3D printed formworks, allowing for sharp undercuts without breaking the brittle medium. This project transforms chocolate into a tactile artifact where heritage, digital innovation, and craftsmanship converge.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Ashwa Nova Edible Art is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Ashwa Nova Edible Art is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Ashwa Nova Edible Art splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Interviews
Grand Interview
The Ashwa Nova Edible Art has achieved something genuinely remarkable by embedding centuries of cultural symbolism within a medium as ephemeral as chocolate, and the precision with which the horse motif and the layered lattice geometry are rendered speaks to an extraordinary convergence of skill and intent. What aspect of the Ashwa Nova Edible Art are you most proud of, and how does that particular achievement reflect the broader philosophy that drives your practice at Modesi?
We are most proud of how we united rigid geometry with fluid emotion. At Modesi Chocolates we believe design should evoke wonder before it even touches the palate. Achieving that intricate “huawen” lattice alongside the galloping horses required pushing the absolute limits of material science and architectural modelling. Abhimanyu brought a deep understanding of structural form-works while Aakanksha ensured the narrative felt deeply rooted in cultural warmth. This reflects the core philosophy of Modesi where we view chocolate not just as a treat but as a canvas for monumental storytelling. We want every piece to feel like a fleeting masterpiece that commands your attention and respect before you take that first beautiful bite.
The intersection of food, heritage, and digital fabrication is capturing the imagination of designers and consumers in ways that traditional culinary craft has rarely managed, and the Ashwa Nova Edible Art sits at a fascinating crossroads of all three. How does the Ashwa Nova Edible Art redefine the relationship between cultural memory and consumption, and in what ways do you believe this approach could fundamentally shift how people perceive the value and meaning of edible objects?
The Ashwa Nova Edible Art bridges a crucial gap by turning a passive act of eating into an active engagement with history. When people look at our creation they see the culmination of ancient Lunar New Year traditions reimagined through cutting edge digital fabrication. We envisioned a moment where the consumer pauses to appreciate the cultural weight of the galloping horse motif before experiencing the chocolate. This fundamentally shifts the value of edible objects because it demands mindfulness. It tells the world that Modesi Chocolates creates cultural artifacts that happen to be edible. Abhimanyu and Aakanksha merge their architectural precision with rich heritage we are proving that food can hold just as much meaning and permanence in our memory as a timeless piece of sculpture.
Your innovative use of precision 3D-printed flexible formworks to resolve what you describe as the Geometric Release Paradox is a genuinely original contribution to the field of culinary design. How do you see this fabrication methodology, as demonstrated through the Ashwa Nova Edible Art, influencing the broader landscape of food design and potentially enabling other practitioners to work with complex geometries in brittle edible media without compromising structural or aesthetic integrity?
The Geometric Release Paradox was an exhilarating challenge that tested everything we knew about materials. Working with brittle chocolate means you usually have to compromise on depth or accept a high rate of shattering. By developing precision 3D printed flexible formworks Abhimanyu Goel was able to introduce architectural molding techniques into the culinary space. This methodology is going to completely revolutionise how chefs and designers approach food. It proves that you do not need to sacrifice structural complexity for aesthetic integrity. Aakanksha Jain sees Modesi leading a new wave of culinary architecture where practitioners worldwide can look at our process and realise that the most impossible shapes are now entirely achievable in edible media.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Ashwa Nova is a 3D-crafted chocolate bar that translates cultural storytelling into an edible form. Inspired by the symbolic horse, the design features intricate, high-relief motifs framed within a layered lattice geometry. Enabled by advanced fabrication techniques, the bar achieves precision and depth beyond conventional moulding. It transforms chocolate into a tactile artifact, where form, narrative, and craftsmanship converge to create a multisensory experience.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The Ashwa Nova Horse Bar is an 80-gram dark milk chocolate bar that merges traditional Lunar New Year symbolism with high-precision 3D printing technology.
The bar is crafted from 70% cocoa dark chocolate infused with bright mandarin citrus notes. Its intricate, high-relief surface is highlighted by hand-applied 24-karat edible gold flakes. Measuring 115 mm x 75 mm x 10 mm, this piece serves as both a luxury gift and a landmark achievement in edible design for the 2026 Year of the Horse. - Tags
- 3D Printed Chocolate, Edible Art, Year of the Horse, Lunar New Year, Luxury Chocolate, Geometric Lattice, Architectural Design, Mandarin Infusion, Hand-Gilded, Sustainable Production, Edible Art
- Production Technology
- The realisation of Ashwa Nova is rooted in the convergence of digital design, advanced fabrication, and artisanal chocolate-making. The process begins with computational modelling, where the horse motif and lattice framework are carefully developed as a unified geometry. Special attention is given to depth, scale, and relief to ensure that the design is not only visually expressive but also structurally viable within the constraints of chocolate casting and demoulding.
To achieve the intricate detailing and layered composition, the design is prototyped using high-resolution 3D printing. This stage allows for precise control over fine features, enabling the translation of complex ornamental patterns and sculptural elements into a tangible form. Iterative testing is conducted to refine edge sharpness, surface smoothness, and the balance between aesthetic depth and manufacturability. The 3D-printed master is then used to create food-safe moulds, ensuring consistency across production while preserving the integrity of the original design.
Material considerations play a critical role in the realisation process. The chocolate composition is calibrated to achieve optimal viscosity and flow, allowing it to capture the micro-details of the mould without compromising structural stability. Tempering techniques are carefully controlled to ensure a glossy finish, clean release, and a satisfying snap, enhancing both the visual and tactile experience. The geometry of the bar is also designed to guide how it breaks, creating an intentional interaction between user and object.
Production is conceived as a hybrid process, combining technological precision with artisanal oversight. While 3D printing enables repeatability and complexity, the final casting, finishing, and quality control are handled with a high degree of craftsmanship. Each piece is inspected to ensure that the narrative elements—such as the clarity of the horse motif and the continuity of the patterned lattice—are faithfully reproduced.
Packaging and presentation further extend the design intent, positioning Ashwa Nova as a collectible object rather than a disposable product. The bar is designed to be experienced visually, tactilely, and sensorially, reinforcing Modesi’s approach of elevating chocolate into a medium of cultural storytelling.
Through this integrated process, Ashwa Nova demonstrates how contemporary fabrication technologies can be harnessed to reinterpret tradition, enabling a new form of edible design that is precise, expressive, and deeply rooted in narrative. - Design Challenge
- The core challenge was the Geometric Release Paradox: creating high-relief, sharp-angled "huawen" lattice structures without shattering the brittle tempered chocolate during de-molding. Traditional rigid molds cannot handle such intricate undercuts.
The solution was a hybrid engineering workflow using precision 3D-printed flexible formworks. This digital additive process enabled the successful extraction of complex, interlocking geometries impossible with standard methods. The result is a durable 80g bar featuring crisp, hand-gilded details that bridge classical architectural aesthetics with modern fabrication. - Research
- This Technical and Cultural Feasibility Study sought to merge the essence of nostalgia and cultural expression as a medium for storytelling with digital precision in edible form. The objective was to achieve high-relief geometric complexities impossible through traditional molding. Methodology involved iterative 3D design and precision polymer 3D printing to create intricate flexible formworks. This research used digital CAD tools and high-resolution additive manufacturing to test structural integrity and relief depth for an 80g bar. Results demonstrated that precision 3D-printed formworks enable geometric patterns that eliminate material waste while maintaining artisanal quality. This insight impacts the luxury confectionery market by proving that digital innovation can enhance cultural authenticity and sustainable production, offering a scalable model for bespoke culinary design.
- Inspiration
- Ashwa Nova explores edible design as a medium for cultural storytelling. Inspired by the horse, a symbol of strength and prosperity, the design merges traditional Asian lattice geometries with contemporary aesthetics. By utilizing 3D printing to achieve intricate reliefs impossible with standard molds, the project creates a tactile dialogue between heritage and innovation. It transforms chocolate from a simple confection into a crafted object of memory and precision.
- Project Duration
- The development of the MODESI Ashwa Nova Horse Bar project commenced in January 2026 in Singapore. The design and production phases were completed in February 2026, specifically timed for the Year of the Horse Lunar New Year collection. The final product was documented for award submission in March 2026 in Singapore. This timeline encompasses the full cycle from initial 3D design iterations to the hand-applied gold finishing of the physical 80-gram chocolate units.
- Operation Flow
- The interaction begins with the visual impact of the high-relief surface, where the 3D-printed horse and lanterns catch light against the dark cocoa. The user experiences a tactile transition from the smooth holding surface to the intricate, hand-gilded patterns of the relief. Consumption follows a planned sensory flow: starting with bright mandarin notes, followed by deep cocoa, and finishing with a clean citrus aftertaste. This intentional design offers a more immersive, multi-layered experience than a standard flat bar.
- Patents
- Trademark and Patents owned by Modesi Designs PTE LTD Singapore
- Team Members
- Abhimanyu Goel
Aakanksha Jain - Image Credits
- Abhimanyu Goel
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