A slight meditative calm from everyday household products creates the art for the Wexner Center for the Arts’ “Tea and Coffee Sets” exhibit. The exhibit runs from Jan. 31 to May 2 at the Wexner Center Galleries in the Belmont Building downtown.

“It’s an extraordinary exhibit showing new designs by world class architects,” said Karen Simonian, Wexner Center spokeswoman. “It’s fascinating to see their designs and it’s a really innovative show.”

Alessi, an Italian design house formulated the idea to create contemporary tea and coffee sets designed by the world’s rising architects.

“It’s very interesting in a sense to let architects design what they couldn’t do full-scale, like mini-city scapes,” said Wexner Center assistant spokesman Eric Pepple. “It forces the viewer to be a more active participant and emphasizes a more communal effort.”

One of the featured artists, Zaha Nadib, designed an extremely innovative set that perplexes the relation of convention and design.

“I loved Zaha Nadib’s piece,” Simonian said. “I’m a fan of her architecture, so it’s nice to see her work on a smaller scale.”

The piece is a dynamic set, sleek and silver with rising peaks and valleys that question its function as a tea or coffee set.

“It mimics a cityscape and is evocative of things other than itself,” said Helen Molesworth, Wexner gallery curator. “There’s a communal sense of problem-solving and utopian ideology that you design a new building, you live a new life.”

Another design by the MVRDV architect group, from the Netherlands, took the classic modernistic approach and removed everything that is not necessary. Thin bands of thermoplastic resin ring around the silver form to replace antiquated handles. The piece combines state of the art material and ceramic for a message of contemporary values fused with antiquated customs.

Plump, rounded silver vessels with precise spouts and thermoplastic rings form David Chipperfield’s set. Within his set is an inclusion of modern design and preservation of form.

“The plump roundness evokes sensual provocative awareness in regards to the human body,” Molesworth said. “It tells us to live more beautiful, provocative lives.”

Away from the modern silver medium, some artists became playful with color. Juan Navarro Baldeweg’s piece utilizes floral stencil designs with cherry wood handles.

Another play on color and aesthetics is Toyo Ito’s ceramic coffee set. Composed of white ceramic and lined with small green frogs the piece radiates a nostalgic resonance.

“I felt it was particularly whimsical and charming,” Simonian said. “I also liked the color combination.”

The general appeal of the art connected successfully with the public.

“Opening night, there were hundreds of people; each person spent time to look carefully at the pieces,” Simonian said. “I think they were pleasantly surprised with the exhibition.”

Taking an antiquated custom that denoted class and placing it into the world of design makes this exhibit creatively balanced.

“I liked the idea that some of them don’t look like tea and coffee sets,” Simonian said. “It’s kind of meditative because it takes elements from our daily lives.”