UPCYCLING: Stunning Bowls Made From Plastic Water Bottles.

Artist Gülnur Özdağlar creates elegant and unusual looking bowls transformed from PET bottles. She calls this process "upcycling". Her aim is to substitute with labor and artistic value the characteristics that the material loses during transformation, thereby obtaining a product of higher value. The collection is named Tertium Non Data (translated from Latin means: the third is not given) and is an alchemic term which refers to the process of combining two disparate elements to create a new, third element.



In this case the new, third element is a collection of diaphanous, attractive tabletop bowls that resemble organic creatures like jellyfish and sea anemones.




The elegant perforated and ornate bowls are created from a regular PET* water bottles. What looks like a flower at the base of the bowls, is the indent from the base of the bottle. If the bottles have a bluish tine, the formed bowls do as well.



Gulnar delicately heats and forms the edges of the bowl to create undulating forms and embellishments like flowers and petals.



With various perforations, cut shapes and added petals, she has managed to create numerous variations, like the ones shown below.











The artist's tools:


The bowls can be used as pet bowls, storage containers, jewelry holders or just as lovely objet d'art. She also makes upcycled jewelry as well.

*PET is Polyethylene Terephthalate, which is a thermoplastic polymer. It can be re-formed by heating. After heating process, it becomes more stiff, rigid, durable and glassy. It becomes even stronger and crystallized when perforated.


above: artist Gülnur Özdağlar with her daughters.

Gülnur Özdağlar studied architecture at the Middle East Technical University and has been active as an architect since she graduated in 1986. She has participated in architectural design competitions, together with various groups, and many of her designs have been recognized with prizes.In addition to being active as an architect, she has also worked in the graphic design and photography fields, and many of these projects have been published in foreign countries in magazines and books. She has received prizes in international competitions of digital art.

•Her website
•Her blog
•Learn to make your own bowls from PET bottles with her "how to guide" on Instructables
•Buy her jewelry or bowls and more at her etsy store