Dutch Designer Re-Releases Award-Winning 103% Vase Thanks to 3D Printing

The designer, Han Koning

Many of us may not yet have known to worry about the disappearance of the 103% Vase. It’s good to see we haven’t missed out on the chance to own one, though. The design of this vase, graced with elegant and simple aesthetics, just makes the flower lover burst into a smile.

Nothing takes the glow off putting an armful of fragrant roses or precious tulips in a pretty vase more than having several break off. Then, busy with a million other tasks, you are faced with what to do with a crippled bloom. Press it in a book? Put it in a cup? With the 103% Vase, you’ll find an attractive, handy attachment built into the side of the vase, just perfect for holding those tinier, even more delicate sheared stems.

Dutch designer Han Koning is not only a talented artist, but also a clever guy. He also possesses some mad 3D printing skills, and this is a good thing—and a great story, as he takes production into his own hands. After winning the Dutch HEMA Design Contest in 2002, Koning’s vase was being manufactured by a company from China. Not too long ago, however, the Chinese ceased production of his award-winning piece. Not surprisingly, fans of the 103% were crying out for more, with nowhere to go.

“Over the years many 103% Vases have been knocked off mantelpieces by cats, and dropped on floors by all too fanatic cleaners,” said the designer. “Alas, production in China is complicated and the 103% Vase is no longer available off the shelf. This urged me to find a solution, as demand was still there and 103% Vase was becoming sought after.”

To rectify the situation, Koning is using 3D printing in a clear demonstration of what is one of this technology’s greatest benefits. He’s become his own producer, manufacturer, and distributor. So, not available out of China anymore? Well, now, newly branded and renamed the 103% Reloaded, Koning’s vases are coming to you straight off of his 3D printer in PLA, from his very own ‘Development Room.’

“It doesn’t come from an anonymous factory in China these days, but directly from the Development Room,” said Koning. “Printing is slow; it takes four hours to print one vase. But hey, what is slow?”

And as Koning notes, while it takes a bit longer to make each vase as a one-of-a-kind 3D print, a great number of his original vases being manufactured in China were ruined before even reaching their destination.

“It took days to mould, bake and glaze the 103% Vase and months to ship it from China before it landed on a coffee table,” he said. “Many vases broke in production and even more in transit, just like the poor flowers’ stems.”

Broken vases aren’t much good for helping the broken flowers, so the new arrangement, while more time intensive, is perhaps better for all around–let’s be careful with those flowers all the same, though…

Is this a 3D printed item you are interested in ordering? Do you manufacture your own line of 3D printed items? Discuss in the 3D Printed 103% Vase Reloaded forum over at 3DPB.com.

A graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, Koning specializes in handmade industrial design, making and offering numerous inspired products for the public, from his Development Room.