In recent years, contemporary vases have become surprisingly inventive in shape, material, and concept. We’ve picked out ten that stand out for their originality, material choices, and sense of timing. They’ve got everything it takes to become future classics.
These aren’t untouchable museum pieces. They’re objects being designed and made right now. You can actually buy them, use them, fill them with flowers, or leave them empty. This selection brings together ten contemporary vases we think are worth considering right now, even if it’s just to start, or add to, a personal collection that’s built to last.
Shiva, Ettore Sottsass
Designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1971 during a love trip to Barcelona, Shiva is making a comeback as one of the most recognizable pieces to emerge from Italian Radical Design, a movement that questioned function, taste, and tradition in postwar Italy. BD Barcelona has reissued the piece in glossy pink ceramic, with a limited edition in blue produced with Capsule Global. Its form, referencing the Indian linga, is unmistakably symbolic, and the high-gloss finish only draws that out further. Originally intended for flowers, it now moves between design object and cultural artifact, its meaning shifting with the context in which it’s seen.
Arcs Vase, Muller Van Severen
The Arcs series is one of the most successful collaborations in recent years, bringing together Danish brand Hay and Belgian studio Muller Van Severen, already known for pieces like the Arc candleholder. The vase carries all the duo’s signature traits: simple forms, smooth surfaces, bright colors, and soft edges that feel casually drawn but carefully considered. It’s a functional object, but also a small collectible—something that’s as nice to use as it is to own. A spot-on example of accessible contemporary design.
Kink, Earnest Studio
Kink is the result of a meeting between Muuto, one of the most interesting names in accessible Scandinavian design, and Studio Earnest, a young Rotterdam-based studio known for its precise and playful approach. Made of porcelain, the vase comes in white or a soft dusty blue. Its sharp, unexpected curve gives it both its shape and its name, with a double opening that sets it apart. Somewhere between sculpture and industrial object, it’s minimal but full of character. A contemporary piece that’s easy to use, easy to gift, and maybe even the start of a collection.
Eros Torso, Niko June
Eros Torso is one of the most recognizable vases of the past few years, and for good reason. It was among the first pieces released by Danish brand NIKO JUNE, designed by Oliver Sundqvist and Frederik Nystrup-Larsen, and first shown in 2020 at Tableau gallery in Copenhagen. Each vase is handmade from recycled plastic, with slight variations in shape and color from one to the next. The look is rough but considered, imperfect in a way that feels deliberate. It speaks to sustainability and to the idea of collecting. A piece that has already earned its place in contemporary design.
Dish Wash vase, Lola Mayeras
With Dishwasher Vase, French designer Lola Mayeras turns an everyday object into something completely unexpected. Inspired by dish soap bottles, the vase is made of ceramic, produced in France, and finished by hand with a glossy glaze. The terracotta orange version is perhaps the most iconic, with its bold color and a shape that deliberately blurs the line between function and symbol. The top opening makes it fully usable, but above all, it’s an object that flips expectations. Somewhere between art, design, and irony, it is a small provocation worth collecting.
Steps Vase, Polspotten
Polspotten is a Dutch brand that has brought a playful, unconventional spirit to design since 1986. Its aim has always been to add color, lightness, and a touch of eccentricity to everyday spaces. Like much of the best Dutch design, each piece blends precision with a strong visual identity. The Steps vase series is one of the brand’s long-time favorites. Made of hand-blown glass with textured surfaces that catch the light, these vases create soft reflections and a quiet, floating presence. Well made and instantly recognizable, they are built to stay around.
Nuage, Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec
Nuage is one of the most recognizable projects by the Bouroullec brothers, and maybe one of the most poetic. Developed through their long exploration of tubular shapes and modular design, these vases for Vitra are built from eight cylindrical openings that, together, resemble the outline of a cloud. They’re made to hold loose, almost spontaneous floral arrangements, and they work even better in groups—playing with different heights, colors, and materials. Available in ceramic or anodized aluminum, they seem designed to sit side by side, to be moved around and rearranged.
Chamber Vase, Wang & Söderström
Wang & Söderström often move between the digital and the physical, and the Chamber vase for HAY is a good example of that. First designed in 3D, then printed and finally produced in porcelain, it has an irregular, almost organic shape, with rippled surfaces and two slim openings made for simple arrangements. The Danish duo is known for their experimental approach, combining digital processes with a strong sensitivity to materials. This vase captures their style with clarity—it’s exact but unforced, abstract but surprisingly tangible. A piece that draws attention quietly, and reflects the kind of formal and material exploration that feels worth collecting right now.
Cobra, 101 copenhagen
Inspired by the Cobra art movement of the 1960s, the Cobra series is one of the most recognizable and successful collections from 101 Copenhagen. The vases have soft, almost playful shapes, with curves that echo human silhouettes and a deliberately naïve aesthetic. The idea came from freehand sketches by designers Kristian Sofus Hansen and Tommy Hyldahl, a direct and instinctive approach that reflects the spirit of the original Cobra artists. Each piece is made of hand-glazed ceramic, with slight variations in color that make every vase unique. An unconventional object, made to bring character to even the quietest corners.
Green Line, Fabio Novembre
The Green Line collection, designed by Fabio Novembre for Bitossi in 2009, takes its name from Beirut’s Green Line, the area that marked the city’s divide during the Lebanese civil war. After a trip to the Lebanese capital, Novembre imagined nature breaking through cracks in the pavement as a symbol of resistance and renewal. The four vases in the series have rough surfaces that recall concrete, with slender forms made to hold just a few stems. It is a project that brings together material and meaning, where the flower becomes a quiet metaphor for beauty that endures.
Fast Vase, Cédric Ragot
Designed by French designer Cédric Ragot for Rosenthal in 2007, Fast Vase is a reinterpretation of the classic Ming shape. Porcelain, a material long associated with elegance and stillness, is reshaped here as if caught in motion. The vase looks like it’s mid-sprint, its lines stretched by the wind, almost like a still from an object moving at full speed. It is a visual and digital experiment on a historic icon, challenging the idea of form as something fixed. Available in different sizes, it plays with the tension between memory and acceleration.
Each vase is available in its original version through a handful of specialized online stores. If you decide to buy something by clicking one of the affiliate links on this page, ARCHIVEofOBJECTS.net may earn a commission.
