Hiroshi Takahashi · CLIENT: Koushin Die Mold
Com Plates Wooden Tableware is created using a proprietary manufacturing process developed by a mold manufacturer, applying advanced metalworking expertise to wood. This technology overcomes the traditional drawbacks of wooden products, such as weight and bulk, redefining the possibilities of wooden tableware. Upcycled from discarded wood, each plate is precision carved to achieve remarkable thinness. Its refined form enables gap free stacking while offering a sculptural presence that supports creative table settings and functions as an art object.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Com Plates Wooden Tableware confronts the fundamental challenges of woodworking, achieving ultra-thin walls, ensuring dimensional stability, and maintaining high machining precision. Drawing on expertise developed in mold manufacturing, the project redefines what is technically possible with wood. Although woodworking and metalworking may appear fundamentally opposed, both disciplines ultimately share the same objective: identifying the most appropriate process for the material at hand. By setting aside conventional assumptions, the design arrives at a refined and precise form that expands the expressive and technical potential of wooden tableware.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Size is Height 170mm x Width 250mm x Length 34mm. Weight varies depending on the type of wood, but each plate weighs between 29 grams and 39 grams. This product are designed to be stacked, and even when stacked 21 high, the thickness is only 104mm.
- Tags
- tableware, wooden, very thin, ultra lightweight, compact storage, compact stacking
- Production Technology
- Many wood products were handmade or primarily processed using two dimensional machining. While 3D machining has been introduced in recent years, simply machining the material with a machine risks damage during processing unless it has a certain thickness. However, by embedding the material into a mold for machining, processing is possible not only at a thinness of 1.5mm but even at 1mm. Furthermore, surfaces precision machined through programming can be stacked with minimal gaps. This enables the creation of wooden tableware specialized for stacking, opening up a new market for wooden products.
- Design Challenge
- Using wood carving to shape blocks into extremely thin sections, rather than assembling thin boards, proved extremely difficult. Expansion and contraction vary with temperature and humidity, causing warping and cracking after processing. While some tree species are more suitable than others, finding them among scrap wood is challenging. The solution lies in creating numerous prototypes to explore the optimal processing method.
- Project Duration
- A prototype model was created in December 2023.
It was submitted to the Dfa Design for Asia Awards 2024 in June 2024.
It was submitted to the Wood Design Award 2024 in July 2024.
It received a Bronze Award at the Dfa Design for Asia Awards 2024 in September 2024.
Received the Wood Design Award 2024 in October 2024.
This project was submitted to the Hkda Global Design Awards 2025 in February 2025.
Received the Hkda Global Design Awards 2025 in March 2025.
Received the Global Top 10 Award at the Hkda Global Design Awards 2025 in April 2025.
Received the Silver Award at the New York Product Design Awards 2025 in October 2025.
Winner of the Takaoka Craft City 2025 Craft Competition in October 2025. - Operation Flow
- Com Plates utilizes waste and scrap materials. Items destined for disposal are transformed into value added products. This processing technology is not a secret; anyone can learn it. If the entire woodworking industry applies this processing technology to various products, it can reduce wood waste and contribute to preventing global warming.
- Research
- Com Plates Wooden Tableware explores how waste wood can be transformed into a high added value material through design and advanced processing. By positioning the objects not only as functional tableware but also as collectible, art like pieces, the project broadens public interest in upcycling and material reuse. While the conventional approach has been to enhance wood by resinizing its surface, this research reverses the logic, demonstrating that wood itself can serve as the base material for products typically associated with resin or plastic, achieving comparable thinness and precision. In doing so, the project proposes an alternative material narrative that elevates discarded wood into a refined, contemporary medium.
- Inspiration
- Com Plates Wooden Tableware rethinks the limitations traditionally associated with wooden products, beginning with weight. While reducing thickness might seem like an obvious solution, conventional woodworking techniques impose clear constraints. Drawing inspiration from precision metalworking, the design achieves an ultra thin profile of just 1.5 mm, without compromising structural integrity. Thinning wood typically introduces risks such as cracking or warping, yet a proprietary processing method overcomes these challenges through heightened manufacturing precision. This same refinement also allows the plates to stack compactly, combining lightness, durability, and practicality in a quietly innovative form.
- Image Credits
- The same person handles every step of the process, from product planning to design and manufacturing.
- Patents
- Technology should not be hidden. It advances and improves through open sharing.
It is desirable to compete with each other's technologies without being bound by patents.
Press releases are available in 1 languages.