Torq Nutcracker

Inspired by industrial components, Torq is the first 3D printed object commissioned by OTHR that explores the mechanical potential of 3D printed output. Turning the business of nut cracking into a precise activity, this product finds its place in the heart of the home. The grooves become the dominant force in the product, as well as the refined visual detail that suggests the intuitive motion it employs. By employing the methods of 3D printing and direct-to-consumer ordering, there is little waste in the transport or manufacturing allowing for a more sustainable carbon footprint.

Bio Josh Owen is a designer and professor of Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. His work has been featured at the Venice Biennale and is in the permanent design collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Chicago Athenaeum, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montreal, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Taiwan Design Museum, among others. Significant manufacturers in the U.S. and Europe produce his home/design, furniture, and office products, which are regularly featured in design books, periodicals and in critical design discourse.

Other prizes Owen has been the winner of six Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Awards. He has also been the recipient of the ID Annual Design Review Award, the International Design Award, as well as nominations for the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design, the Athena Emerging Designer Award and an honorable mention for the Red Dot Design Award.