AMO releases playful stone grocery items with SolidNature
A travertine milk carton and an onyx banana designed by creative studio AMO are now available via Dutch stone supplier SolidNature, which originally displayed the objects as part of an exhibition in Milan.
In response to demand from visitors to its Il Sonno Supermarket installation, held during Milan design week, SolidNature decided to make a selection of original pieces available alongside a limited number of newly produced editions.
Il Sonno was developed in collaboration with Samir Bantal, director of architecture firm OMA's think tank AMO, who envisioned a convenience store made entirely of stone, stocked with items including marble takeaway cups and sandwiches made from layered stone triangles.
"With this installation we invite you to see the everyday differently, to imagine environments shaped by value, intention and awareness," said SolidNature CEO, David Mahyari, ahead of the event.
"At Il Sonno this vision comes to life through material and experience, reflecting the diversity of nature and the power of choice."
Everything at the exhibition was made from natural stone, including the shelves, which were lined with versions of familiar goods crafted from marble, onyx, quartzite, granite and travertine.
Il Sonno presented the convenience store as a symbol of contemporary consumer society, but with disposable items replaced with objects made from one of the oldest materials on earth.
The space was surrounded by polycarbonate panels, with rows of fluorescent lights and background musak contributing to the illusion of a supermarket.
The exhibition's title translates from Italian to English as 'sleep' and its mirrored walls aimed to contribute to a dreamlike sense of boundless, fluid time.
"Nobody thinks while shopping; it's a reflex," said Bantal. "At Il Sonno Supermarket, this reflex is frozen in stone."
"Commodities have been transformed into desirable objects, stripped of function. The dream lies in the interval between recognising an object and realising that it has solidified. A supermarket with a fleeting stock, forever frozen in time."
According to SolidNature, many visitors to the Milan installation wanted to buy one of the objects on display, which prompted the company to produced limited editions of 12 different items.
Due to their manufacture from natural stone, each piece displays unique varieties in pattern, tone and translucency.
The brand's previous projects include a water fountain designed by Sabine Marcelis for Amsterdam's famous Vondelpark. It made its debut at Milan design week in 2022 with an exhibition designed by OMA that featured a massive onyx portal and a stone bathroom created by Marcelis.
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