Hasta La Ideas

Milan 2014: designers including Maarten Baas, Arik Levy and Maxim Velčovský introduce their new pieces for Lasvit in this movie filmed at the Czech lighting company’s Emotions show in Milan earlier this week.

Lasvit launched nine new collections at its Emotions show in Milan, including designs by a host of international designers as well as a series of kinetic sculptures by the company’s in-house team.

Czech designer Maxim Velčovský, who is also the company’s art director, created a series of hanging glass lamps called Frozen, which are created by pouring molten glass over a dome-shaped mould and left to cool.

“I was very much inspired by nature, when water becomes ice,” he says of the lamps, which are displayed in a cluster with drops of water running down them. “People are not sure whether they are looking at ice or glass, so they they knock on the lamp trying to figure it out.”

Dutch designer Maarten Baas created a modular chandelier called Das Pop using his signature Clay method in which a synthetic clay is moulded around a metal frame.

“It’s made all by hand and with Lasvit’s craftsman we also made hand-blown lightbulbs,” he explains. “Das Pop is one of my favourite Belgian bands, which is where the name comes from.”

Arik Levy designed a series of simple crystal-shaped pendants, which are available in a variety of different colours and opacities.

“We get reflections off the facets, even when the light is off,” he says. “When it’s on and when it’s off it always stays beautiful.”

The show also features the first glass chandelier by Daniel Libeskind. Called Ice, the piece is made up of clear glass cells blown into angular moulds, creating sharp, icicle-like forms.

“When you blow crystal, it’s typically bubbly and round,” says the American architect’s son, Lev Libeskind. “Our language has always been more angular and sharp. So we said, “What would happen if we took our sharpness and impose it on the glass?” The result provides a really interesting counterpoint between material and form.”

Lasvit’s Emotions show also features two moving glass sculptures, including a hanging lotus flower designed by Petra Krausová, which opens and closes in time to music and is controlled by an iPhone app.

Visual artist Jakub Nepraš also created a sculpture made from shards of glass shaped like a tree, onto which  a series of digital images are projected.

“There is craftsmanship, there is poetry behind each collection and this year there is also a lot of technology on show,” explains Lasvit founder and president Leon Jakimič. “I believe we are the first company to combine glass art with really advanced technology.”

Lasvit’s Emotions show, which also features designs by Michael Young and Czech designers Jan Plechac and Henry Wielgus, is at Office Stendhal on Via Stendhal in Milan and is open from 10am to 8pm until 13 April.

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Comme l’année précédente sur Fubiz, Sony a fait appel à Torafu Architects pour concevoir ce Crystal Aqua Tree, une installation à l’extérieur du Sony Building dans le quartier de Ginza à Tokyo. En invitant les passants à déposer des pièces dans des boîtes de couleurs, cette installation propose de voir l’arbre digital évoluer.

Growing up wearing hand-me-downs during the Great Depression, Liberace’s rise to stardom can in some ways be measured by his outfits. From the purchase of his first set of tails to electric costumes adorned in 4,000 light bulbs, Liberace stood alone on a…

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Les équipes de Torafu Architects ont conçu récemment ce projet magnifique installé à l’extérieur du Sony Building à Tokyo. Appelée « Ai No Izumi », soit la Fontaine de l’Amour, cette structure composée de LEDs colorées imite les mouvements d’eau en se calquant sur le modèle de la Fontaine de Trevi située à Rome.

Czech designer Michaela Tomišková combines glass, crystal and electricity to create elegant and modern lamps

by Adam Štěch

Two different stories of Czech craft heritage have come together in two different types of glass for a collection of lamps, “Made by Breath”, from young Czech designer Michaela Tomišková. The 2011 Prague AAAD graduate has indeed given new life to traditional production with her unorthodox use of materials—in collaboration with two national glassworks—each specializing in different forms of production.

The legendary Moser glasswork from Karlovy Vary, which was founded in 1893 by Ludwig Moser, has supplied pure cut crystal glass for the project. On the other hand, Kavalier, founded in 1837 Sázava and known for its special tubular laboratory glass called Simax, has prepared minimalist-construction elements.

The distinctly different styles and use of materials harmonize in the decorative, yet minimalist and functional collection of table lamps. Most of the lamps are comprised of thin tubular glass by Kavalier decorated with eclectic crystal parts by Moser. The result is a subtle, surprising connection of forms and shapes, which highlights the visual qualities of the range of materials.

“Cut crystal glass from Moser is more decorative with great light qualities, while Simax from Kavalier is more functional, says Tomíšková. “I have used it for whole construction of lamps and for better adjustment of electricity.” The connection between the two transcends the form, function and construction of lamps itself, letting the whole of Czech glassmaking history resonate in the contemporary progressive ideas that bring together these two opposite stories of Czech glass craft and industry.

“Made by Breath” is available directly from the designer, with prices starting at $580.