Inspired by the centuries old game Bou-Taoshi, designer Yukihiro Kaneuchi has created a series of vases out of sand and resin. At once a play on tradition and modern technology, his craft is a nod to gamification, a popular technology trend that typically involves applying game design thinking to non-game applications.

Having been played for centuries, Bou-Taoshi is about the primitive elements of creation and destruction. In the game, players form a pile of sand and place a pole in the center. Then as each player takes turns removing sand, the one who causes the pole to fall loses the game.

With his sand vases, Kaneuchi transforms the game pole into a glass tube encased within the vase’s sand and resin outer shell. When the resin freezes the sand, time stand still. “The shape nears collapse,” says the designer, “bringing a tension and delicate beauty to the flower.”

via Freshome