Vipp bin turns playful with mix-and-match magnetic forms

Danish design brand Vipp has collaborated with artist Alice Ronchi on a limited-edition pedal bin, a playful interpretation on the brand’s first ever product, a design classic that sits in MoMA's permanent collection. 

Over the past two decades, the Vipp bin has been interpreted by an array of designers such as Damien Hirst, Philippe Starck, Yoko Ono, John Baldessari, Yves Behar and others. Now the Milan-based artist intertwined the vibrant, sculptural work she is best known for, with a functional object, adding playful intrigue into the utilitarian design classic. 

Vipp bin magnetic edition by Alice Ronchi

The Danish design brand encountered Ronchi for the first time in 2022, and in 2023 the artist contributed towards the Vipp Palazzo pop-up hotel . Vipp then invited her to present her interpretation of the bin, a commission which the artist received with enthusiasm.

Ronchi wanted to nod to childlike nostalgia when designing the product. Drawing inspiration from the cursive movement of seaweed, she crafted six metallic magnetic forms, which can be rearranged as pleased. The fluidity of the design allows for an interaction with an everyday household object, which is normally hidden, or designed to merge within its surroundings.

‘Throwing something in the bin is often an act of instinct. Therefore, I wanted to give extra attention to this very functional everyday object, that usually tends to just blend in with its surroundings. By adding tailormade, carefully created magnets, I wanted people to interact with the bin, making it an equal protagonist of the home, not just something you put in the corner’, explains Ronchi.

The magnetic shapes in metallic coloured steel cover the largest of the Vipp bins. A touch of iron has been added to make its traditional polished steel surface magnetic. Utilising her sculptural experience she carefully created organic coloured shapes with a 3D feel, adding a dimensional element to the practical, ergonomic design classic. The shapes themselves are 1mm thick, with a mirrored surface that injects depth into its surroundings. Italian production company Giovanardi Spa assisted Ronchi in developing the metallic coloration of the shapes.

The fluidity of the design allows for a co-creation on the bin's final form, which can vary between owners. ‘I worked intensely on the colouration of the magnets. I wanted them to appear transparent to generate an elegant feeling of lightness, brightness, and fluidity of the shapes; like they were floating in the bin’s mirror-surface’, describes Ronchi.

The magnetic edition by Alice Ronchi is available as a limited-edition of 50 exclusively on Vipp.com and in Vipp's flagship store in Copenhagen