Permanent Collection
D-Bay Design Museum
Shenzhen — 2025
A fully disassemblable kettlebell combining CNC-machined bamboo, cast iron and steel through an isostatic structure assembled without additional screws or permanent fixings.
Originally conceived and designed by Roberto Rota and Ate Rote for Artop Design Group, the project was subsequently engineered and developed into a physical prototype by Artop in Shenzhen. In 2025, the prototype was acquired by Shenzhen Bay Culture Square for the permanent collection of the D-Bay Design Museum.
Located in Shenzhen—China’s first UNESCO City of Design—D-Bay is a major new cultural institution connecting contemporary Chinese design with an international design landscape.
The acquisition extends Ate Rote’s work-trajectory beyond industrial development, positioning it as records of an evolving dialogue between product innovation, technological culture and contemporary design in China.
The project reinterprets the kettlebell as a compact, materially hybrid and completely disassemblable fitness object, developed according to Design for Disassembly principles. The product combines a hollowed semi-spherical bamboo body, a central cast-iron pin, threaded steel studs and a tubular metal handle. The bamboo component is precisely CNC-machined to create an internal cavity that receives and stabilises the central cast-iron pin through direct contact. Its concave geometry constrains the metal core within the structure without additional screws, adhesives or concealed hardware, while preserving the bamboo as an independent and fully separable element. The central cast-iron pin connects to threaded steel studs that lock the handle and the remaining components together. Their axial action closes the assembly and generates an isostatic system in which every part is stabilised by the others. Once released, the kettlebell can be completely disassembled without damaging any component.
Bamboo Kettlebell translates Design for Disassembly into a compact fitness object: a hollowed natural body, a stabilising metal core and a reversible locking system. Construction becomes its visual language, allowing bamboo, cast iron and steel to remain distinct, replaceable and recoverable.
