‘The Anticline’ stovetop espresso maker has curvy appeal

'The Anticline' espresso maker by Cultivation Objects, with irregular curvy form

'The Anticline', £534/$650, by Cultivation Objects, from cultivationobjects.com. Photographed by Neil Godwin at Future Studios for Wallpaper*. Art direction by Sophie Gladstone

(Image credit: Neil Godwin)

By Hugo Macdonald

published 19 January 2025

Contributions from
Sophie Gladstone, Neil Godwin - Photography

in Features

That form should follow function is one of design’s foundational aphorisms. This remarkable stovetop espresso maker takes its name from the ‘anticline’ geological formation, whereby pressure from tectonic movement or rising magma causes rock to fold, leaving undulating layers, and we love that the phenomenon is mimicked in the rise and fall of water as it becomes coffee in the alchemical process that we habitually take for granted.

‘It is inspired by the geological folds in the landscape near where my father lives,’ Nathaniel Wojtalik, founder of Brooklyn-based Cultivation Objects, explains. ‘We used to spend a lot of time drinking coffee and wandering in the mountains together.’

Cast in recycled aluminium with handles made from ebonised cherry collected from storm-fallen trees in upstate New York, ‘The Anticline’ is a winner for us in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 for its pleasing sculptural form and its capacity to inject a little artistry into our daily morning ritual.

A marvellous conversation piece for breakfast guests; just please don't talk to us until we’ve drunk its contents.

The Anticline espresso maker, £534/$650

The Anticline espresso maker, £534/$650, edition of 200, available from cultivationobjects.com

All of the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 winners appear in the February 2025 issue of Wallpaper* , available in print on international newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo recently returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as global design director, and is now serving as its design critic.

With contributions from