Meet the Shade Bin by Thomas Bentzen
No living space is complete without somewhere to toss the rubbish, but a paper bin is one of those invaluable items we all tend to forget.
Well, not anymore. Introducing the Shade Bin, designed by Thomas Bentzen. With its clean silhouette and range of appealing colors, this bin can stand alone as a sleek design object or blend in to any environment, from the kids’ bedroom to the office. As versatile as it is simple, the Shade Bin has more to it than meets the eye: when the light hits, its delicate, geometric planes become a gradient of subtly shifting color.
Just in time for “Spring cleaning,” Mette Hay visited the designer in his studio to explore the bin’s winning features.
"A paper bin is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but was just waiting for the right design. I was looking for a paper bin that would stand out, and still blend in.
Doing designs that have this dual nature is a challenge, because there needs to be a little detail that makes the product different from others.
One of my favorite things about the bin is its geometric shape, with these planes that become a gradient of color in the light.”
— Mette Hay
"I was making paper models for the Bin, and found it difficult to create a round shape, so I made some cutting lines that I ended up loving visually. Then I realized that they made the bin stronger. And I noticed that there were some super nice things happening with the shadow.
These geometric planes were a nice result of the manual-design process. You might call it a happy accident that came from actually using your hands, and not a computer, to make a model."
— Thomas Bentzen
“I wanted to add the handles to show the use, to indicate that here is a removable lid: it's a suggestion, it's a hint. If a thing has a function, then people should know about it.”
— Thomas Bentzen
