In celebration of Hangzhou International Design Week, Italian-based product designers Erika Zorzi and Matteo Sangalli, founders of Mathery Studio, were asked to create an interactive kids space inside a local shopping mall. The result? A noodling collection of 16 giant, food-shaped structures and a pool full of colorful foam tubes. So, while the Mathery-duo were busy designing the canvas, it was up to a fleet of little hands to transform the space into art.

Recalling an exaggerated scale pin board, the TUBO concept shifts the perception of coloring from 2D to 3D. The space consists of a collection of 16 giant all-white food-shaped structures and a pool filled with foam tubes, surrounded by perforated walls. The bent white cylindrical frame of each structure encapsulates perforated mesh. Together they create a bountiful food landscape composed of oversized mushrooms, a carrot, a tree-like broccoli, a fried egg, a half-peeled banana, a chunky shrimp…and the shopping list continues.

Naturally, kids are encouraged to color the space by filling the holes of the structures using the foam tubes. They can stick the foam tubes in the holes, tie and slot them in however they like in order to create a 3D coloring effect. No need to stay in the lines here!

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