Level Re-Interprets Serving Tray for Bulthaup Chicago's Benefit for Common Threads

The Charity:

Common Threads is an organization fighting against the childhood obesity problem that exists in low-income communities and families.  Their mission is to educate low-income children on the importance of nutrition and physical well-being, empowering them to be agents for change for healthier families, schools, and communities. 

The Challenge:

German kitchen company, Bulthaup, challenged architects, designers, and artists to reinterpret their signature serving tray into a work of art to be auctioned at the fundraiser.

The Solution:

Common Threads reports that nearly 40% of children in African American and Hispanic communities are overweight or obese. We wanted to create something that would make this 40% visible.

Our solution was to remove material from the base of the tray in a traditional and delicious artichoke pattern, based on a William Morris pattern. The material that was removed, exactly 40% of the base, is in a way more important to the design than that which remains.

A fundraising event was held at the Bulthaup showroom on Tuesday, December 6 at which 14 trays reconfigured by Chicago architects and artists were sold through a silent auction/cocktail event.  Our entry was among entries by Chicago firms Wheeler Kearns, Krueck & Sexton, Landon Bone Baker, SOM, Gensler, and others. The event raised over $2,600 for Common Threads.