THE FOUNDER
My name is Maria de Almeida e Paiva and I’m a 27-year-old designer from Carcavelos, Portugal. I studied design at the School of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, also taking part in an exchange programme at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering of the Technical University of Delft, in the Netherlands.
After completing my studies, I packed my bags and went for a solo adventure in Asia where I volunteered as a teacher and mentor in a school in the province of Campong Cham, in Cambodia.
Even though home is home, my experiences abroad didn’t seem to be enough, so I packed again and went to work in Milan for the Isao Hosoe and Lorenzo de Bartolomeis design studio.
My passion for ceramics sparkled when I was studying and now, after completing a course in design applied to ceramics in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, it feels the right time to fully explore it and turn it into my own business.
the brand
nu cerâmica was born from the desire to inspire people’s lifestyle through art. I feel that art is the expression of humanity, that style must go even deeper than aesthetics and that what truly matters is the feeling that the pieces and the clay itself, naked and pure, pass on to those who see, touch and feel them.
nu cerâmica reflects a symbiosis between tradition and modernity, expressed through products that combine a contemporary aesthetics with vernacular influences. I believe that this fusion, backed by a strong connection to my Portuguese roots and cultural identity, is what urges me to bring high quality and innovative products to life with my own hands.
The name of the brand, nu, evokes every core value it stands for. nu meaning naked - something undressed, simple, natural, true and exposed - exactly how I think life should be.
THE PROCESS
As a passionate ceramicist, I design and craft inspiring and unique tableware for your home, through an 100% handmade mould process and slip casting technique, with a delicate hand finishing. I make all the pieces in controlled quantities that allow me to assure quality and personality, combined with the love and dedication I feel for this brand.
Driven by my background in design, every collection is born from a thorough and creative design process. I start by sketching the pieces on paper to feel the shapes and volumes and to get an idea of the proportions I aspire to achieve. Then, I design all the pieces digitally, which gives me the ability to adjust shapes and dimensions, in order to produce them in clay. Despite making the pieces using my own molds, I often use the potter’s wheel to make the prototypes, making my drawings come to life and quickly informing the final result.
Working with clay is a slow and repetitive process, and it is here that I find a sense of space and calmness, a feeling that I hope will pass on to the pieces I create and to the values that nu cerâmica stands for.
