CHEERS!
“I will design new glasses every year, always different, always new, always special and every year I will try to catch the spirit of the time, with what there has been and what is coming. After a few years we can prepare a beautiful table, for Christmas and whenever we want to celebrate!” Michele De Lucchi
After the production of the collection of the 12 Christmas vases, that began in 2000 and finished in 2011, architect Michele De Lucchi decided to design a new series for one of the most important elements that occupies a spot on the table of each and every home: the glass. That particular object, apparently so elementary, but that unites us all in one of the oldest social habits. Starting as a Christmas gift, the design of new glasses becomes an actual production of Produzione PRIVATA.
As with any object designed by architect Michele De Lucchi, what is actually represented, is not the object itself, but a process. And behind every process there is an idea, an idea that can be translated in many different ways, this is precisely why each glass of the collection presents diverse shapes and forms. Every year, a new glass is designed: experimenting, shaping, creating, transmitting the spirit of our time to the glass, still warm and moldable. Through the hands of men, glass and fire, every gesture creates differences that give a unique personality to each glass. The artisanal scale and procedures, in this case, allow for a great amount of experimentation and research, that lead towards a constant and eternal evolution. Time never stops, it keeps on going, and it gives the glass a second life, not made by its forms, cooled and unchangeable, but by that which flows within it, that fills it up and gathers us human beings together around a table.
Borosilicate glass comes in tubes of different sizes, it’s imported from Germany and worked by a local manufacturer with 45 years of experience in the ancient tradition of blown and handcrafted glass. Every aspect of the production is, in fact, made following the traditional and artisanal methods. This is the laboratory, where identical glass tubes become many different glasses.
In order to be shaped, the glass tube must be first heated and then cut. Borosilicate glass, which varies from classical glass for its thermal resistance qualities and for its low coefficient of expansion, is mainly used in chemical and pharmaceutical laboratories, and due to its particular characteristics of transparency and durability, it has been chosen as the material for the production of the glasses of Produzione PRIVATA. From each tube, two glasses are formed.
After the cut, which is carried out by a machine, the tubes are still hot, but not ready to be shaped into glasses yet. The cut tubes are then left to cool down and wait to be finally transformed.
The tube is heated through a direct flame and modeled according to the shape of the glass. The cut is done by a machine, but the actual modeling is done by the expert hands of the craftsman, who will infuse a unique soul into each glass, making every creation different from all others.
Once they become hot and moldable, the glasses must be shaped quickly but with great precision. This is why, the utensils in the photograph are just some of the essential tools that the artisan uses to work the glass. Gauges for measuring, pliers and scissors for shaping.
When the hot strip has assumed the right dimensions, it is squashed with pliers to form the stem. After that, the base and cup are processed. At last, the glass takes its own shape, from paper to reality through the heat of fire.
CREDITS
Project: Michele De Lucchi
Design: Michele De Lucchi
Text: Michele De Lucchi, Oliver Carmi
Photos: Mercedes Jaén Ruiz
IMAGES COURTESY
aMDL - Michele De Lucchi's Archive