Twenty emerging designers interpret the ashtray
Ashtrays by emerging designers are the subject of ‘Feu!’, a project by French collective Meet Met Met

Staged during Paris Design Week 2023, ‘Feu!’ (meaning ‘fire’ in French) presents the work of 20 emerging designers and studios offering a new creative interpretation of the ashtray.
Heim Viladrich
French design collective Meet Met Met, led by Helder Barbosa, Thibault Huguet, and Jean-Baptiste Anotin from the studio Waiting For Ideas, have gathered an eclectic group of fellow designers, including Bram Vanderbeke, Wendy Andreu, Laurids Gallée, Lea Mestres and more. The brief was to explore the ashtray and its functionality.
‘We were looking for small subversive objects of daily life that give a complete creative freedom,’ says Anotin of choosing the ashtray specifically. ‘We asked every designer to produce a piece for the exhibition, so cost and time were key parts.’
Sabourin Costes
The resulting designs range from simple circular shapes reminiscent of traditional ashtrays to mini-architectures and material experiments. ‘We were amazed by the diversity, in terms of techniques, concepts and materials used,’ adds Anotin. The concepts include Heim Viladrich’s ‘social’ ashtray, with 42 indents on which to rest as many cigarettes, each numbered so you can remember where you left yours. And the design by Parisian duo Sabourin Costes, a micro-architecture for the table that doubles as a decorative object when not in use. Nice Workshop’s design references the forms of a Sony cassette, and can be used only by a person at the time, inspired by the idea of solitude as a moment for recovery and self-reflection.
Quentin Vuong chose a sculptural approach for his piece, which takes on an imposing presence in a room, while Sho Ota’s prowess with sculpting wood resulted in a pair of tactile, abstract objects.
'Feu!' is the first of a series of collective design exercises, which Anotin hopes to repeat yearly to bring together new design explorations of simple, everyday objects.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Nice Workshop
Laurids Gallee
Samy Rio
Sho Ota
Quentin Vuong
Quentin Vuong
Super Toys Super Toys
Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.
-
Dyson pares down the vacuum cleaner to its most minimal form with the PencilVac
Enabled by new motor technology, Dyson’s forthcoming PencilVac is designed to squeeze into spots other vacuums can’t go
-
Welcome to io: OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s secret startup to shape the form of future AI
Jony Ive’s LoveFrom has spent two years assembling io, a crack team of specialists to visualise the physical form of Artificial Intelligence. Newly acquired by Sam Altman at ChatGPT, this tech supergroup hopes to re-shape the landscape of Silicon Valley and our relationship with tech
-
Chelsea Flower Show unfurled: a year of pause, thought and promise
This week’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show – now in its 112th year – has begun to reveal its defining spirit. This year is one of tentative readjustment: a reassuring exploration of the ‘future garden’, and the ways in which landscape design might tackle climate and conservation challenges