Variations: The Beauty of Chance
With mouth-blown glass, every piece is an original, possessing its own character. Small variations in thickness, color, decor pattern and dimensions are normal. You may even find a few visible air bubbles.
Hand Forming
To form a glass shade, molten glass is taken from a furnace with a pipe. It’s pre-formed by turning and blowing. Then the still-viscous material is blown into a mold to give it the final shape. For pressed glass, the glass is poured into a mold and pressed into shape with a stamp.
After being removed from the mold and the pipe, the item is made stronger by a slow process of reheating and controlled cooling. This removes tensions in the material itself. Further work includes cutting, grinding and polishing, and any final decorating. Decorating can include etching, painting or handcutting.
Achieving Depth
Clear glass is a single transparent layer, while Opal glass is a diffused white.
Frit glass utilizes small bits of colored glass applied to the surface of an item while the glass is still extremely hot, creating irregular patterns and multi-colored surfaces.
Cased glass features a colored glass layered with a clear or opaque glass. Multiple layers of colored and clear glass together achieve a rich color and optical depth. Etching or cutting the outside layers to reveal inner layers can be especially attractive.
Foscarini towards global quality: design, research and innovation, communication
The acquisition of the company by Urbinati and Vecchiato in 1988 led to a decisive turnaround in the strategies and business policies, including the use of independent designers for product and communication, and the relentless pursuit of an adequate production, distribution, commercial and service structure.
Rodolfo Dordoni
During these years, the company confirmed an organizational method based on teamwork, where different capabilities concurred towards the definition, discussion and solution of strategic and operative problems. This led to the choice of Rudi von Wedel as a consultant for communication and design; through him Foscarini came into contact with architect Rodolfo Dordoni, who would be their art director from 1988 to 1993, designing several highly successful lamps, rethinking their visual communication with a new logo and catalog, involving a series of young designers and expanding the selection of products. Interpreting the origins and character of Foscarini, Dordoni worked on lamps which were inspired by the idea of “retrieving the forms of memory”, reinterpreting traditional forms in a contemporary spirit, as in Lumiere or in the Buds suspension; they also accepted the arduous challenge of redesigning the classic Murano glass chandelier, as in the Venice Collection by Patrice Butler and the suspensions by Marco Mencacci.
During the Dordoni period, two new models appeared which, each in their own way, would open new horizons for design, as well as market and image: Orbital by Ferruccio Laviani and Havana by Jozeph Forakis.
Orbital floor lamp by Ferruccio Laviani
For the first time, in Orbital, the company’s tradition of using blown glass was abandoned in favor of colored silk-screened glass in a composition with powerful visual and sculptural impact. The lamp-object by Laviani understood and tuned into the changes in the culture of design and consumers, seeking to overcome the rigid correspondence between form and function in search of
new sensorial, emotional and visual qualities.
Havana Suspension, Floorlamp by Jozeph Forakis
Even more radically, Havana adopted polypropylene, which was certainly more economical than glass but used in a product with superior formal and production qualities. This marked the beginning of research into other technologies and materials to complement blown or industrial glass, which would lead in the following decade to acknowledged successes such as Mite by Marc Sadler, in woven glass fiber with carbon or kevlar® threads, awarded the Compasso d’oro-ADI in 2001, the most prestigious recognition for
products of Italian design.
Mite floor lamp by Marc Sadler
In 1993 the collaboration between Dordoni and Foscarini came to an end; the company chose to expand its design horizons, contacting new designers and putting itself on the market with a more ample and diversified production. The Nineties witnessed the international consolidation of minimalism, to use an indicative but limited label. Seen from something of a distance, one may recognize in the simple, essential and minimal lines that characterize a large part of the decade’s products, an answer and reaction above all to the visual, formal and chromatic excesses of the Alchimia-Memphis style of postmodernism.
A return to a correct design of forms and construction solutions based on methods of industrial production, a more serene and reassuring look, in a historical phase marked by profound modifications in the economic, political, social and cultural structures.
The search for a new identity in the second half of the decade led Foscarini to collaborate with architects and designers such as Piero Lissoni, Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba, Giovanni Levanti, Lievore Asociados and Prospero Rasulo. The visual design was entrusted to Claudio Dell’Olio from Box in Milan, who chose Santi Caleca to photograph the lamps for the catalog in furnished or domestic settings suggesting, in a strongly communicative manner, the usage and understanding of the physical and cultural characteristics of the products.
One of the more successful results of the period proved to be, for example, the Dress lamp by Defne Koz, which used blown glass to confer a soft and persuasive line to the table lamp. Attention was also reserved to different design languages, as witnessed by the series of essential and angular chandeliers by Tom Dixon, one of England’s most interesting designers; or Dolmen by Ferruccio Laviani which interpreted the return of the Sixties and pop culture language; or again the attention towards the poetic and illusionistic work of Denis Santachiara, whose little Elfo was an invitation to a curious and interactive approach towards objects.
Dress table lamp by Defne Koz
During the Nineties, the quality of the company processes and the control of service to the final consumer became a matter of specific interest. The company obtained the ISO 9001 certification, attesting to the suitability of the overall configuration of internal operative processes. Increasing and specific attention would also be dedicated to customer satisfaction, a central requirement for the positive performance of a company on the market.
The turn of the century had Foscarini involved in reinforcing its organization and production structure, perceiving the need to consolidate its brand name on the market by expanding and defining the role of communication. Following a phase of transition, in which it sought a dialogue and affinity with the world of fashion and experimented original methods of communication, such as the fascinating “fashion show with lamps” held during the Furniture Fair in 2000, Foscarini identified a precise and confident strategy for its image and market position. This was achieved thanks to sustained research in design, culminating with a number of interesting lighting fixtures and the use of an articulated range of communications tools, developed in collaboration with Artemio Croatto of the Designwork visual design studio in Udine.
The opening of this new phase was marked symbolically and operatively by the new series of lamps Mite, Tite, Lite, Kite by Marc Sadler. They represent the result of a research process lasting several years, and the relationship with one of the most innovative contemporary industrial designers who works globally and in different areas of the design field; in 2001 they won the Compasso d’oro-ADI award, receiving widespread acclaim by critics and the media, as well as the market. This was the culmination of an operative company methodology which encouraged the dialogue between research, innovation and design: new materials, a clean and contemporary composition for a warm, domestic and efficient light.
The lamps created over the past three years seem to fit naturally into the same tendency, involving other designers and experimenting with different solutions in production technology or in the choice or combination of avantgarde materials, frequently derived or borrowed from more advanced fields. This is true, for example, of the futuristic O-space in polyurethane by the young Luca Nichetto and Gianpietro Gai, or Blob, produced in rotomoulding by Karim Rashid, and Bague by Patricia Urquiola and Eliana Gerotto, who combine the visual roughness of metal mesh with the tactile pleasure made possible by a special surface treatment. The search for design-visual productive qualities does not obviously forego the original passion for glass: in Lampoon, just like in the earlier Cocò, both by Aldo Cibic, the traditional glass-blowing technique is deliberately “forced” to adapt and measure itself against the contemporary language of design.
Foscarini’s is therefore a “short” history, which leaves a solid heritage for the present: several classics of Italian light design; a solid, specific business structure, centered on the culture of the design project and the idea of industrial design as a process of research and innovation. An excellent formula for the future.
The origins in the twin context of the Murano glass industry and the culture of the design project
Foscarini was founded in 1981 to produce lighting fixtures for the contract sector: hotels, stores, offices and public spaces. On the Venetian island of Murano, in particular during the Seventies, a significant industry grew parallel to the traditional blown glass production, supplying custom contract work for large architectural projects in prevalently emerging countries such as the Arab countries. A production that was economically very profitable, but frequently more significant in terms of quantity than design or manufacturing quality. Unlike the majority of Murano manufacturers, Foscarini combined the use of various blown glass techniques with a specific attention to the technical lighting characteristics. Glass, but conceived for lighting: a choice which carried precise implications for the design project, and was directed at building a product-oriented culture, in the best tradition of Italian design.
Not that there was a lack of manufacturers who produced quality lamps in blown glass, though this rarely constituted their main source of production, but like Venini or Vistosi they were often distinguished by ancient tradition and obvious prestige, having long become accustomed to collaborating with important Italian and foreign designers.
This is not the place to develop an articulated essay on the relationship that Italian design maintained with the productive techniques of traditional craft industries.
The theories of industrial design have always correctly tended towards standardized production, large quantities, mechanized standardization; but the dialogue between the world of design and different techniques of execution, hand-crafting, semi-handcrafting, and semi-mechanization, has never diminished throughout history, leading to research, experimentation and stunning results. Similarly, in theory and in practice, there has been a constant reduction over time in the central role of the series, the significantly large production quantity, in favor of the one-of-a-kind or limited edition piece. Italian design, and especially, and fortunately, its protagonists, has expressed many different spirits and interests, including experimentation with different production methods that are not industrial. If there is one distinction to be made, it concerns the need to separate designing and making, otherwise we are speaking of crafts tout court: if a project exists, methods and production numbers do not always have to be considered major constraints.
Over the course of the Twentieth century, blown glass has been one of the most interesting “venues”, physically and culturally, for the dialogue between a modern design conception and an ancient and almost entirely manual production technique. Sometimes, during the past century, significant encounters occurred between designers, glassblowers and manufacturers on Murano; in other cases the same glasshouses created significant products in terms of design. In several situations, attempts were made to redirect the traditional production of Murano glass more consistently towards more industrialized styles, not always with satisfactory results, and towards more up-to-date distribution, marketing and communication models: this occurred in many large glasshouses, light design companies, small manufacturers or self-production interests.
This was undoubtedly a quest for a more complex and articulated balance, focused on the present without losing sight of history, that still appears as a necessity today, to provide renewed vigor to a context and to glass manufacturers who have become less vital over time.
Compared to the majority of companies on Murano, Foscarini originated with a specificity, a basic “weakness” resulting from a specific choice and revealing itself over time to be a fundamental resource. It does not in fact own its own furnace, nor does it produce itself, but turns each time to more or less mechanized craftsmen, or to industry, creating all the necessary conditions to make its own lamps. This practice of using suppliers divided by technology, materials and production has now become rather common in the era of the tertiary and market globalization8, but in the early Eighties it certainly was not, especially for those who worked on Murano. This constraint-opportunity, constituted by the condition of being a design firm “without a furnace”, favored a mental approach which tended towards total flexibility and freedom, particularly in the search for the most appropriate solution to a design problem, followed by the identification of the most appropriate technological and manufacturing techniques and consequently the most suitable producer.
A problem-solving methodology which over time proved functional to sustaining the research conducted with the designers into a variety of materials and techniques.
Starting in 1982, Foscarini complemented its contract production, cautiously at first and later in an increasingly convinced and convincing manner, with a standardized production. It initially served to integrate the company’s production and sales cycle during the moments of cyclical contraction and dilution of contract commissions; over time the catalog production grew increasingly important until it completely replaced custom and made to order furnishings, abandoned during the early Nineties.
The standard production was stimulated from the very beginning by Carlo Urbinati and Alessandro Vecchiato9, employees who later became the owners of the company, and personally took responsibility for the entire manufacturing cycle: from the design, to the engineering, to the search for the glass manufacturers, to the visual communication and marketing strategy.
The first phase of production conjugated two directions: on one hand the techniques for blowing Murano glass, on the other the attempt to make them dialogue with contemporary design culture. These were lamps which dedicated specific attention to the principles of lighting and made constant reference to the masters and the manufacturers of light design.
Fixtures in blown glass that made light, for which they conceived original solutions that often challenged the glassblowers and forced them into directions which were new to them. Lamps with clean and simple shapes, often distinguished by movement or mechanical solutions, which used glass for the quality of the material and its colors, attempting to go beyond a purely decorative configuration or surface treatment.
Twenty years are certainly just a drop in the wide river of History; they can however represent a significant chronological milestone if they are considered in terms of a single experience, be it of an individual or a company.
The Foscarini lighting company, which presented its first complete collection of lamps in 1983, reaches an important milestone in time this year. Twenty years, especially when they reach the present and involve what is contemporary, appear truly too little to make a definitive judgement, to give a reading and evaluation of the facts with the necessary historical and critical objectivity; but they are sufficient to make order (at least one of the possible orders) in the events, to narrate an itinerary, its protagonists, its turning points and major decisions. It therefore appears natural to move through history and fact, where the value and significance of certain episodes and phases appear consolidated, secure, acknowledged; others identify the early nucleus of directions and perspectives. It appears just as obvious that the present condition and its characteristics should orient the reconstruction, the organization of material which was originally quite diversified; orienting it at times towards a generally uniform and unitary understanding. But when speaking of the past, be it distant or near (and looking to the future), it is impossible to ignore the present; it therefore becomes necessary to be selective and take a stand.
This “brief” history would therefore like, first of all, to be a useful orientation tool. The reconstruction of these first twenty years in the life of Foscarini, understood as the progressive consolidation of a business culture oriented towards design, offers different possibilities for interpretation: some of them synchronic, the result of specific events, in particular four significant temporal chapters in the history of the company; others are diachronic and identified with the “ideas”, in the wider sense of strategic and global decisions which progressively became both inspiration and elements of clear identification.
Research and innovation, attention to the quality of the production process and the services offered, and naturally the “good project”, as Enzo Mari dryly defines design, have constituted precise and consistent elements of the Foscarini identity during these twenty years.
“I have moved from very geometric design to more asymmetrical shapes, inspired by nature. For example, by recreating the shape of a stone that has been worn by the movement of the waves. Previously, it was largely about designing things from the kitchen and the dining table for taking out into the garden. Now the trend has reversed: We are importing shapes from the great outdoors into the garden.”
Many of the best-known and most popular products in Menu’s range come from Pernille Vea’s design universe. Pernille, and not least her designs, have won countless prizes and prestigious awards all over the world.
The main characteristic of Kino Guérin’s artistic approach is the search of equilibrium. This seems obvious at three levels: equilibrium between the work of art and the utility object, between the curve and the straight line and finally in the choice of materials.
Noble woods and precious veneers coexist with industrial materials such as plywood. The harmonization of contrasting veneers brings a new facet to the notion of equilibrium, which, without being directly inspired by nature, nevertheless emanates from its essence.
The aesthetic part of his creation, while of great simplicity, is the result of many years of research on both the shape and the technique. Most of the molding of the artist creative pieces is done by means of the vacuum press laminated process.
It has already been some 10 years since Kino Guérin started exploring the multiple possibilities of this revolutionary technique. As each one of his discoveries opens new fields of creation, a never-ending future of revelations is waiting for him.
Awards
2006
Award of Excellence, SIDIM.
2005
Best booth design award, Montréal Craft Show.
1999
François-Houdé Award, from the City of Montréal to a promising artisan.
1998
Promising artisan Award, Montreal Craft Show.
Joe Futschik is the designer and owner of jefdesigns, based in Portland, OR. A one man (and dog) multi-disciplinary design company whose mission is to create simple yet bold, modern objects. He currently offers hand-made wood lamps, lightbox paintings, prints, panels and home accessories. Largely self-taught, Joe’s main goal is to trust his instincts and pursue whatever inspires him, regardless of the medium. The result is a varied collection of objects, united by the same attention to light, color and form. jefdesigns’ products are sold through many retail locations in the US and Puerto Rico.
jefdesigns works extensively with the architecture + interior design trade. Our products have been commissioned for many commercial and residential projects, including restaurants, bars, hotels, corporations and private residences. Custom commissions are welcomed.
Born in Brooklyn, Laurie Beckerman graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. She received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Pratt Institute, and, after graduation, designed low-income housing in Brooklyn and Harlem for the Pratt Architectural Collaborative.
Beckerman worked for Steven Holl Architects, and in the architectural setting-out shop at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. At the Cathedral, she drafted templates that were used by the stone carvers to create stones for the facade of the Jewish Museum. She spent every lunch hour in the stoneyard learning the craft of carving. Her passion and respect for material deepened, and her desire to become a furniture designer began when she carved her first table out of stone.
Seth Rolland works from his studio in Port Townsend, WA, an hour and a half from Seattle. Visitors are welcome, please contact Seth to arrange a time for your visit.
“I have been making furniture for 17 years, first in Taos, New Mexico and now in Port Townsend, Washington. During that time my work has evolved to be more organic both in design and technique. Forms in nature have always been my primary inspiration. I admire the simplicity and economy of the natural world where each material shows its full range of possibilities.
“I am drawn to natural forms because they are not static: they grow, spring, flow, balance, fracture and erode. Each of my designs starts with the idea of such a motion, in addition to the function of the piece of furniture. In my furniture I emphasize structure over ornamentation, and dramatic transitions instead of exposed joinery.
“To refine my designs, I sketch, make scale models and full size patterns of important parts. I choose woods that complement the design of the piece and the room for which it is made. Since nature is my inspiration, I try my best to care for it by using sustainably harvested woods. Many of the details of my furniture do not show up in photos: textures, edges and curves that are meant to be touched more than seen. I want my furniture to be fun to touch, sit in, eat off and live with for many generations.”
Awards
2009- NICHE Awards Finalist in “Traditionally Joined Wood” Category Read
2008- Carol Duke Artist Award of Excellence, Bellevue Art Museum, WA Read
2008 – NICHE Awards Finalist in “Home Furniture” Category Read
2008 – NICHE Awards Finalist in “Traditionally Joined Wood” Category Read
2007 – NICHE Awards Finalist in “Home Furniture” Category Read
2007 – NICHE Awards Finalist in “Traditionally Joined Wood” Category Read
2007 – 1st Place National Design Portfolio Award for Residential Furniture, CWB Magazine Read
2006 – Carol Duke Artist Award of Excellence, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA
2006 – NICHE Award Finalist in “Home Furniture” category
2006 – NICHE Award Finalist in “Traditionally Joined Wood” category
2003 – Award for Funtional Art, Sausalito Art Festival, Sausalito, CA
2003 – Emerging Artist Award, Bellevue Art Museum Fair, Bellevue, WA
1996, 98, 2000 – Recipient of the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Scholarship for study at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass, CO
2000 – Award for Excellence, Boulder Artfair, Boulder, CO
1999 – First Place Award, Boulder Creek Festival, Boulder, CO
1996 – Primary Award Winner Silverhawk National Fine Craft Competition
Patricia Urquiola was born in Oviedo (Spain) and now lives and works in Milan. She attended the faculty of architecture of Madrid Polytechnic were she graduated in 1989 having done a thesis with Achille Castiglioni. From 1990 to 1992 she was assistant lecturer on the courses held by Achille Castiglioni and Eugenio Bettinelli both at Milan Polytechnic and E.N.S.C.I. in Paris. Between 1990 and 1996 she worked for the new product development office of De Padova and with Vico Magistretti signed the products: “Flower”, “Loom sofa”, “Chaise” and “Chaise Longue”.
From 1993 to 1996 she had an associate practice with architects de Renzio and Ramerino and was engaged in architectural design, showrooms, restaurants and franchising (Maska/Italy, Tomorrowland Stores/Japan, Des Pres/France). In 1996 she became head of the Lissoni Associati design group, working for Alessi, Antares-Flos, Artelano, Boffi, Cappellini, Cassina, Kartell, and others. At the same time, on her own, she designed for B&B, Bosa, De Vecchi too, Fasem, Kartell, Liv’it, Mdf, Molteni & C., Moroso and Tronconi and designed stands and showroom for Knoll, Moroso, Sag 80, and Somma.
Her products were selected for the Italian Design 2001 exhibition and for Intenational Design Yearbook 1999 and 2001. In 2001 she was chair of the jury for the 19th CDIM Design Award and was lecturer in the Domus Academy. She is currently conducting her professional activity in her own studio in Milan in the field of design, exhibitions, art direction, and architecture.
