Each object is shaped slowly: by an extruded coil of clay, by the slip and pull of the print head, by the kiln, by hand. The marks of making remain.
The collection, Strata / Void, reads as a study of how light escapes earth: through erosion, through separation, through the spaces between stacked forms. Surfaces are unglazed and warm; light is a single warm LED, deeply recessed. Nothing is finished in metal. Nothing is finished in paint.
Photographed in studio · Marfa, TXA monolithic form shaped by erosion. Light seeps through thinness, revealing the unseen.
Photographed in studio · ParisLayered like sedimented time. Light escapes between shifts, not through holes.
Three-pendant cluster · 36 cm dropA veil of clay drapes around the light. It breathes through subtle separations.
Wall-mounted, on dark plasterTwo bodies, slightly apart. Light lives in the space between.
Suspended over plaster credenzaTwisted by force, softened by clay. Light grazes the underside in waves.
Modular stack, eleven unitsModules stacked, rotated, and balanced. Light emerges between forms.
3D-printed clay
LED 2700 K · high CRI
Dimmable
Edition of 25
Made to orderEach object grows from a single, continuous coil of stoneware extruded by the print head: a slow architecture rather than a fast one. The geometry is drawn in code; the coil records the speed of its own laying down.
We do not sand the print lines out. The ridge that forms where one coil meets the next is the material's own grammar, and the way light catches and falls into those ridges is the entire idea.
A single bisque firing brings the clay to maturity at 1180 °C over thirty-six hours. No glaze, no second firing. The clay body remains porous, breathable, and warm to the touch.
A deeply recessed warm LED is fitted, dimmed, and signed off in studio. Each piece carries its edition number on the base in pressed numerals. Wiring is CE-certified at source; UL on request for North American installations.
COTTALITE is a small studio of architects working across material craft and computation. We make objects that hold light the way ancient vessels held water: slowly, deliberately, and built for time.
We work in editions of twenty-five. We do not stock; each piece is made to its order, signed and numbered. Custom sizes and finishes are part of the practice, never an exception to it.
For permanent installations, hospitality, and private residences, we accept four to six commissions per year. Current commissions include a sixty-piece installation for a coastal hotel in Sardinia, opening 2026.
Open a trade account for tearsheets, CAD files, finish samples, and project pricing. Custom sizes available on every piece in the collection. Lookbook and trade pricing PDF delivered by email, typically within two working days.
Open trade account
