The German-born, London-based design partnership of Julia Lohmann and Gero Grundmann have earned a reputation for their investigations into the potential of all materials – from preserved sheep’s stomachs to soap. Always with a view to minimising waste and maximising longevity, they consider it important in a society obsessed by the new, that consumers also take some responsibility for the permanence of the objects they choose to surround themselves with.

Through their award-winning work, Lohmann and Grundmann find new applications for otherwise undervalued materials. The Erosion series, made from industrial soap, is first cast into simple geometric shapes and then naturally eroded into semi-organic objects. By allowing the material to dictate the form, and by embracing the imperfections embodied in the process, the designers have relinquished full control over the final product. The owner or end user is encouraged to cherish and maintain the soap pieces, which will erode but will, eventually, also petrify.

By celebrating and embedding flaws into their designs, Lohmann and Grundmann challenge the ideal of the perfect product and in so doing aim to mirror the transience of man-made structures in the landscape and question the impermanence of mass-manufactured objects.