From craft to code – when your spoon comes from a 3D printer
For 150 years, nothing has changed in the production of cutlery. Twelve designers want to change that – with spoons, forks, and knives from a 3D printer.
When was the last time you thought about your spoon? Exactly. Yet cutlery is one of the most personal things on your table – we touch it at every meal without giving it a second thought. At 3daysofdesign, I visited the exhibition "Design/Dialogue" by Ark Journal, and there I was captivated by a project that challenges this very assumption: "Knife, Fork, Spoon 3.0".
Behind it are the gallery Marta from Los Angeles and New York-based curator Dung Ngo. Together, they commissioned twelve contemporary cutlery collections – all 3D-printed from stainless steel. The goal of the project is not just a new look, but proof of how a new technology can break through centuries-old manufacturing constraints and give everyday objects completely new forms and meanings.
From craft to machine – and now to code
Since industrialization, cutlery has largely been produced in the same way: with heavy tools and expensive machines that hinder rather than foster innovation. As Dung Ngo told Dezeen: "The flatware industry has practically not evolved for over 100 years." It has been at a virtual standstill since the height of the Industrial Revolution and the invention of stainless steel. If handmade cutlery is "Version 1.0" and industrial production is "Version 2.0," then 3D printing now represents "Version 3.0."
Ngo knows what he is talking about: he has been collecting cutlery for 25 years, now owns over 10,000 pieces, and has just published a 600-page book on the subject: "Knife Fork Spoon: Modernist Cutlery 1900–2025". Speaking to CNN, he hits the nail on the head regarding the structural problem of mass production to date: "We start with a flat piece of sheet metal – and then we bend it."
This is exactly where the idea of "Version 3.0" comes in: instead of forcing the material into shape by bending, stamping, and pressing, 3D printing builds the objects layer by layer in three dimensions. This frees the design from the limitations of the flat sheet. 3D printing here is not a gimmick, but a tool to explore the boundaries of ergonomics, material distribution, and form.
An example of how long 3D printing has been experimented with in cutlery design: architect Greg Lynn developed printed cutlery with plant-like forms for Alessi as early as 2007. At the time, it could only be realized in small quantities and at very high costs. According to Dezeen, technological progress makes the pieces significantly more affordable today. Almost twenty years later, Lynn's design is now part of this exhibition, along with eleven new positions.
Twelve signatures, one material
What the list of participants shows: there is no single answer to the question of what 3D-printed cutlery should look like. Jolie Ngo, for example, pursues a playful, figurative approach. Her cutlery is meant to feel like companions at the table that you hold in your hand during the meal.
On the other side of the spectrum are the more research-driven approaches of American architecture firms Johnston Marklee and Charlap Hyman & Herrero, whose pieces experiment with unusual, sometimes wave-like forms.
David Wiseman's interpretation "Three Kingdoms" moves somewhere between sculpture and utility object. The New York firm Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu also approached the material from a research perspective: Florian Idenburg translated familiar cutlery shapes into a delicate, permeable 3D grid – more of a drawing in space than a classic piece of cutlery.
The magazine Wallpaper* aptly describes the larger trend beyond cutlery at this edition of 3daysofdesign: many of the week's strongest projects didn't reinvent anything, but treated the everyday with care. And quite incidentally, "Knife Fork Spoon 3.0" shows that everyday life and minimalism do not necessarily belong together: "Everyday does not necessarily mean minimalist."
Marcin Rusak, for example, brings a botanical signature to the project with his piece, which is reminiscent of an orchid. It is influenced by his grandfather, who worked as an orchid breeder.
By the way, after the exhibition, the designs are intended to be available as an open edition at Marta, in case you want to eat with a 3D-printed fork yourself.
A chapter of a larger story
"Knife, Fork, Spoon 3.0" is not a one-off exhibition project, but part of something bigger: since May 2026, the Denver Art Museum has been showing the exhibition "Knife Fork Spoon: Everyday Tools, Extraordinary Design" – around 150 cutlery sets from over a century of design history, from 1900 to today. In addition to historical works by Eliel Saarinen, Gio Ponti, or Zaha Hadid, the newly commissioned pieces from Copenhagen are also on display. As the museum writes: cutlery tells a story of creativity that spans generations.
What convinces me most about this project: it's about taking a very close look at what an object we pick up every day can be – and how new technology can give it a new form.
And even if the cutlery in our range is still at Version 2.0: a little character is still allowed.
This series of articles is about modern table culture, which is currently making a comeback – bold, funky, and everything in between. The table becomes a stage for design and enjoyment. Tableware, cutlery, glasses? Clear statements. Today is also about how technology is changing our understanding of craftsmanship.
Like a cheerleader, I celebrate good design and bring you closer to everything furniture- and interior design-related. I regularly curate simple yet sophisticated interior finds, track down trends and interview creative minds about their work.
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