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Barovier&Toso redefines the art of Venetian glass at Milan Design Week 2023
STIR in conversation with Luca Nichetto at Milan Design Week 2023
Video: Courtesy of Barovier&Toso
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Barovier&Toso redefines the art of Venetian glass at Milan Design Week 2023

The Italian brand presented five new collections at Euroluce, a window display at Milano Design District and also unveiled the launch of Ginori 1735 Domus by Luca Nichetto. 

by Sunena V Maju
Published on : May 11, 2023

Extending their aim to build new visions and an attitude capable of investigating a kaleidoscopic range of possibilities, Barovier&Toso returns to Milan Design Week. At the design week, this year, the Italian company that specialises in Venetian glass launched five new collections at Euroluce, in the exhibition, ‘Multipl*, Serial Attitude project’ curated by Vandersandestudio, unveiled Ginori 1735 Domus by Luca Nichetto and presents a window display, ‘Floating flowers, Where artisan and nature meet’ at its Via Durini showroom for Milano Design District. Marrying the brand’s innovative spirit, tradition, workmanship and muses, the new collections explore the art of glass in new forms, ways and identities. The leitmotif of all the initiatives by Barovier&Toso at the design fair is the Multipl*, Serial Attitude project, which wanted to tell the company’s ability to develop the theme of seriality, on different scales, going from the micro to the macro.

Multipl*, Serial Attitude project

The exhibition project by Vandersandestudio

This year at Euroluce, the Barovier&Toso pavilion adorns a trapezoidal stand with three fronts. Considering this irregular ring shape, Vandersandestudio’s curation of the exhibition project references brutalist architecture inspirations. A clear sensory contrast between the materiality of the walls and the fluidity of the glassworks is the pavilion design of Barovier&Toso. The exhibition was navigated through a precise path moving through partitions plastered in a light colour, characterised by a rough and raw texture. The floor was entirely covered in moss-coloured carpeting, a covering that rises vertically, building volumes that act as shelves and a support base for table lamps and styling accessories. With a bright, realistic palette that reflects the current trends in interior design, the installation welcomed the visitors with an installation featuring the new Empire collection. The Empire lamps take shape in the clouds of square tubes forming pyramid-shaped volumes, reflecting the geometric lines inspired by the Art Deco style. The parts overlap and are juxtaposed, with different lengths and a rhythmical alternation of colours in the polychrome versions. Though the overall luminous effect spreads softly, it is also studded with sparks of light, due to the ‘corteccia’ workmanship applied by hand to the Venetian crystal.

Moving past the reception and Empire collection, visitors encounter Clepsydra, a new collection that was born as a reinterpretation of designs from the 1960s, taken from the historic Barovier&Toso archive. The lamp is sinuously shaped and the hourglasses are crossed by subtle ribbing obtained with the age-old ‘Rigadin’ technique. Opéra, Vallonné, Metropolis and Grace born in the Barovier&Toso house in the last two years were unveiled to the visitors of Euroluce, for the first time, together with iconic bestsellers, such as the Venezia 1295 chandelier, the Rosati chandelier, the Camparino table lamp, and the long-selling Amsterdam chandelier.

The focal point of Barovier&Toso’s pavilion at Euroluce 2023 was the central lounge area, configured in a scenographic way with a large semicircular wall covered in wood acting as a counterpoint to an imposing installation that sees Germogli express itself in all its magnificence. Inspirations from the botanical world returned to the design of Germogli, in keeping with the Murano legacy. The drawings from the historical archives of Barovier&Toso on which the collection is based date back to the 1980s. Suspended at different heights, the parts of the chandelier generate concentric or spiral forms, in eclectic, surprising compositions.

Barovier&Toso's pavilion at Euroluce 2023Image: Courtesy of Barovier&Toso

Along the way, while navigating through the pavilion is a more circumscribed space, housing the Punk suspension, designed by Roberto Lazzeroni. “Punk revolves around the concept of multiple, a presence clearly marked by strong proportional relationships and combinations that do not hide the structure, as in other cases,” states the brand in an official release.

Ginori 1735 Domus

Under the artistic direction of Luca Nichetto, at Milan Design Week 2023, Domus in collaboration with expert craftsmen and important partners, Barovier&Toso and Rubelli launched the Ginori 1735 home collection. Talking to STIR, Nichetto shares, “The product that is surrounding us should be not only functional but should be also something very good in terms of creating some empathy. The storytelling behind the product that I'm designing is always trying to create some emotion and the emotion can be a positive emotion or can be also negative emotion. I prefer to be white or black, but never grey.” The change of brand identity from Richard Ginori to Ginori 1735 represented a wave of renewal and with the new collection, they debuted into the world of interior design.

With a porcelain base, supported by a hand-blown Venetian crystal sphere made with a double layer of gold or silver leaf, The Sideris reading lamp is a tribute to Galileo. Trinitas is based on the Renaissance concept of three becoming one, the foundation of universal beauty. In Trinitas each component of the object blends together to create a seamless harmony. The Conterie floor lamp draws inspiration from the porcelain jewels of the Ginori 1735 Manifattura historical archive. Its structure is composed of precious hand-crafted porcelain beads and mouth-blown Venetian crystal with different textures, the result of three different craftsmanship, ballotòn, rigadìn and rigamenà.

Floating flowers, Where artisan and nature meet

The Campanula collection designed by García Cumini for Barovier&TosoImage: Courtesy of Barovier&Toso

During Fuorisalone, this year, The Barovier&Toso Showroom in Via Durini, Milan dedicated its windows to the new Campanula collection, with an installation bearing the signature of Vandersandestudio. Like floating flowers, the creations designed by García Cumini were suspended at different heights, close together presenting a close and mutual relationship. “The modular nature of the collection emerges, its kinetic character, the kindness underlying its design. The concept of multiple here is the synthesis of a profound respect for tradition, for ancient processes, and for the company’s know-how. It is a synthesis that goes beyond the idea of a classic chandelier with arms and a classic decorative representation of the flower, to arrive at a modern elaboration of the floral archetype. The set-up highlights this care, which draws on the plant world and the spontaneity of nature itself, a source of infinite elegance and truth,” shares Barovier&Toso in an official release.

STIR’s coverage of Milan Design Week 2023 showcases the best exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands, and special projects to look out for. Explore Euroluce 2023 and all the design districts—5Vie Art and Design, Brera Design District, Fuorisalone, Isola Design District, Tortona District, and Milano Design District—with us.

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