Unda Carafe

"It needed to be perfectly simple but also have a distinct character of its own, and ideally contribute to renewing the Scandinavian design tradition,” says the designer Matti Klenell.

The Unda glass was designed to be an all-purpose drinking glass for the reopening of Nationalmuseum and its new restaurant NM&. “When designing the premises and the tableware, there was a need for a generous and stackable glass which would be able to withstand many different uses.

Drinking glasses are very emotive products in that they meet with people’s hands and mouths, and great effort has been put into finding the right shape and feeling for this meeting. The classic shape has been adorned with a ripple on the side. It’s a wave that catches the fingers and plays with the hand, while allowing practical stacking as the glasses never get stuck together.

The name Unda derives from the Latin, meaning water and wave, and its shifting reflections are tailored for any tabletop. “I grew up around glass-blowing,” says Matti Klenell. “I used to work extra in the glass studio as a kid, and it was hardly magical. All that talk of the white, flowing mass cooling into precise materiality – I mean: it’s hot, it burns! But I know the drill; I can go with the rhythm, and it’s fast and direct, not like assembling a puzzle, the way furniture design can be. Glass is a culture all its own, and when it works, the outcome is fantastic!” The contrast between the artisanal hand-made glass and its functional, almost Bauhaus-inspired form makes the Unda glass at home in any modern setting. To achieve the distinctive, vivid colors, the hot colored glass is caught, covered with a clear layer, and then blown into its definitive shape. The process is chosen for its durability, in contrast to spray paint, which easily scratches. “The ridge on the Unda glass gives you a tactile feel that surpasses the visual, and the V-shape makes them easy to stack without getting stuck. The ridge also indicates the suitable fill level of the carafe.”