L‘URCHIN
A Peppermill Form Study

This project explores the sensory qualities of pepper and the form of the pepper mill to develop a nature-inspired redesign. Beginning with keywords related to pepper’s aroma, texture, and act of grinding, a visual mood board drew from sharp rock formations, twisting cacti, roots, and dried leaves. The final concept combines the round, spiked structure of a sea urchin skeleton with the softer, twisted forms observed in the research, creating a mill that visually expresses the spice’s piquancy and tactile character.

A.03  L’Urchin, 2018

Who was this for? The question never really surfaced, because the middle-class kitchen was simply its assumed backdrop. In that context, a pepper mill can just be delightful, and delight can be reason enough for something to exist.

But formal play is never neutral. It assumes space for objects that serve no need, time to consider aesthetics, and the premise that beauty should generate more things. The project treated sensory pleasure as universal—pepper's sharpness, the satisfying twist of grinding—while never asking who gets to center pleasure in their everyday tools, and who is working too hard to care.

What if design's endless production of objects is the problem?