“Petra” Vase by kutleh – Revealing the beauty of (repurposed) surplus material
kutleh (arabic: block, mass) is a project that repurposes the surplus produced from cladding tiles used in everyday construction projects and attempts to create blocks out of the discarded material. These new kutleh blocks emerge as a new medium. In its essence, kutleh aspires to create multiple unique blocks of various forms and colors, offering designers around the world a new medium to carve out and realize their own designs.
The project was conceptualized and established by architect Rula Yaghmour, who has an interest in various design disciplines. Her appreciation and understanding of materiality has ushered in a fruitful collaboration with stone and marble fabricators A.W. Yasin & Sons Co. The family business has been in this industry since the early 1960s, contributing with their valuable expertise to Yaghmour’s designs.
The “Petra” Vase is part of design series_01 of kutleh. The curvilinear forms of this collection bend and twist, revealing the underlying beauty and concealed layers of stone and marble. The manifestation of a world wonder, “Petra” embodies the marvellous hues of red in an arrangement that echoes the majestic colors of the Nabataean mountains.
Blocks of kutleh draw from selective color spectra that evoke the natural stones in the Levant and the Mediterranean. kutleh presents itself as a redefined raw material, from which designers can carve out their limitless creations to introduce innovative forms.
While it is important for kutleh to reflect the local feel of Jordan, Yaghmour thinks of the project as one that extends beyond boundaries. Stone waste is produced all over the world, and the project sees possibilities for producing localized collections that reflect the lands of the raw materials. The variation of colors and forms that spring from different locations is where the beauty lies.
