The story of the Washing-up Bowl commences one day when the designer Ole Jensen is doing the dishes in the kitchen sink. He is watching the sharp and hard surface of the sink and he suddenly hesitates putting his fragile china and fine glasses into the sink. This hesitation turns into an irritation and out of this irritation the idea of a flexible washing up bowl that shapes according to its content is born.

That was the start of Ole Jensen’s Washing-Up Bowl and the product as we know it today is the result of many hours of product development.

The Washing-up Bowl won the recognized design award “DesignPlus”, an international distinction that since has been followed by the acknowledged dictionary of design Phaidon Design Classics. Here the washing up bowl is presented together with the 999 most innovative and influential designs launched throughout the past 200 years.

Ole Jensen explains: ”In the beginning the Washing-Up Bowls were black and red with an unmistakeable reference to rubber as we know it – car tires, bicycle tubes, gaskets etc etc. The Washing-up Bowls then came in new colors and suddenly they were no longer just for washing up but also a useful object for many other things around the house. Inside and outside – everyday and on holiday. For the bathroom, for the body or for the children and simple souls. For the kitchen, for water, for fruit, for flowers or as a wine cooler filled with ice.”

It started with a simple rubber bowl for washing up. Today it has become a useful object for many other things. Ole Jensen’s Washing-up Bowl distinguishes itself by its functionality and is used as a wine cooler in the restaurant at “The Museum of Modern Art” in New York and for foot baths in selected hotels all over the world.

Awards:

DesignPlus 2002

Design: Ole Jensen