A new recipe for craft preservation.
NewBlue is a new ceramic material made with rejected sanitary ware to diversify the traditional craft of Jaipur Blue Pottery for economic and cultural sustainability. Co-designed with the craft community, it builds on Indian crafts’ legacy of innovating with local abundance.
NewBlue - The Collection
A material-driven collection of homeware explores Newblue’s aesthetic and technical capabilities. Each piece is handmade and co-created with artisans in Jaipur, India. Century-old geometries inspire forms in the craft that are scaled and handmade in Newblue with the Jaipur Blue Pottery technique.
NewBlue - Passive Cooling Tiles
NewBlue passive cooling tiles use the material's strength and ability to absorb moisture and remain cool to create a protective envelope on building facades against urban heat. The tiles were inspired by the traditional practice of keeping water cold in terracotta vessels. ↗
Waste, Craft and Conversation
NewBlue developed as a conversation across the craft community, a Material Research Center, and a designer to co-create a stronger material with waste, building on Indian crafts’ legacy of innovating with local abundance.
Craft Tradition - Jaipur Blue Pottery
India has the largest craft concentration in the world, yet only 2% of the global handicraft market share. These numbers affect remote craft communities across the subcontinent. Research surfaced material deterioration and product development as major challenges to Blue Pottery's sustenance today.
Innovation for Preservation
Project NewBlue is the second technological intervention in Jaipur Blue Pottery since the 1860s. It is designed to be used parallelly with traditional Blue Pottery to pivot craft preservation with material innovation and co-design.
Learn more about the project here:
Team
Collaborators - Material Research Center (MNIT, Jaipur), Neerja Blue Pottery (Jaipur, India), Ramgopal Blue Pottery (Sanganer), Industhan Ceramics (Mumbai, India)
Skills
Design Research, Co-Design methods, Material Research, Material Experiments, Product Design, Visual Design