How to Make Your Own Soap from Leftovers? GDD MANUBA 2020 Collection

The pandemic year of 2020 was difficult for everyone, including us as a small, artisanal enterprise.

We remember it as an important, value-adding period that gave us a new perspective on what craftsmanship is and what role it plays. It also proved to be a breakthrough year for the development of our studio.

For Gdynia Design Days 2020, we were invited to co-create the MANUBA collection—a short series of products accompanying and dedicated to the festival that year. Our fifth iteration of the project continued the idea of ​​reclaiming crafts in Pomerania.

The experience of isolation has shown how important self-care is. MANUBA 2020 is dedicated to caring for one's own body, and its concept is the result of a collaboration between Agata Nowak, Kamila Niedzwiedzka, and Zakwas Studio.

All the objects comprising the collection were designed and manufactured at the Pomeranian Science and Technology Park in Gdynia. In the small-scale production process, we shared our craftsmanship and experience working with ceramics and fabrics. The result of our collaborative work was a family of three products, handmade from natural materials, each in 25 pieces. This resulted in the creation of three elements of the collection: Lico, Myj, and our own Mydlarz.

The idea behind the soapmaker revolves around soap – its use, its connection to the body, and the recovery of often-discarded leftovers. The product consists of three parts: a container and lid turned on a potter's wheel, and a porcelain soap dish/massage bowl.

Each element serves a separate function, but they form a cohesive whole. The container, which forms the lower part of the soap dish, allows for the collection of soap residue and its dissolution into a liquid form. The container's lid serves as a mold in which the liquid residue mixes and solidifies into a new, recycled bar. The soap dish fulfills its classic function as well as a body massager.

Work on the set was based on a cross-sectional combination of traditional pottery techniques and casting from a plaster mold created using 3D printing.