humberto campana on conceiving the candy collection glassware for LASVIT

humberto campana on conceiving the candy collection glassware for LASVIT
(above) ‘candy’ collection cheese lid; Ø 390 x H340 mm; hand-blown clear glass with colour strings

having already designed colorful chandeliers for LASVIT, the campana brothers continue to explore glass as a creative medium with a set of tableware by the same name. complimenting its sculptural lighting predecessors, the ‘candy’ collection glassware projects an aesthetic that is reminiscent of the vibrant caramels sold in popular brazilian markets; taking the visual aspects most notably the colourful striations seen in a piece of candy, to define the pieces. debuted during milan design week 2016, within LASVIT’s ‘via lucis’ exhibition at palazzo serbelloni, designboom spoke with humberto campana about the on-going collaboration with the czech glass company, the challenges the studio faced in developing the ‘candy’ collection, and how they found working with glass.

‘candy’ collection carafe
Ø 140 x H 310 mm
hand-blown clear glass with colour strings

designboom: how did the collaboration between you and LASVIT begin?

humberto campana: our collaboration with LASVIT began two years ago, when we were invited to visit their factory in the czech republic. it was fantastic because the atmosphere of the factory, at the first glance seemed as if we were inside a candy factory. I was completely astonished by the glass in its liquid state. at that time, we proposed to the LASVIT team to make a collection of chandeliers inspired by this initial experience — the first emotions that we had when we entered the factory. it was interesting because me and my brother stayed alongside the glassblowers, selecting different colors and inserting them in the glass in this liquid state. it was a very interesting process. it took almost one year to develop those chandeliers. they were launched last year during the salone, and this year we proposed to go ahead with this collection to make some objects for table: glasses, vases and jugs, following the same concept. the interesting part of this process is first we manufacture the glass object and then the color is inserted after. the result is two different textures: the one of the object itself, and the one of the color speaking loudly from the piece creating the actual tactile surface. it’s not just a fusion, and this is what is interesting about the project. it looks like real caramels!

‘candy’ collection vase 1
Ø 120 x H450 mm
hand-blown clear and opal glass with colour strings

DB: can you talk a little a bit about the challenges you face in developing the ‘candy’ collection?

HC: the challenge that we faced in this process was the combination of the colors. sometimes when you use a color with another, one sort of absorbs the other. so, we figured out that it would be good if you could work with two different levels of colors. one light, and one that is darker in order to give the object some depth. that was the main challenge for this collection, but the rest was very easy, very flexible. we also like to work with the notion of imperfection. the colors were put on the object very randomly without any kind of rigidity. that’s what’s fun about the pieces. each one is unique, and we will never make the same two objects twice. this is the magic of working in this sense.

‘candy’ collection vase 2
Ø 150 x H350 mm
hand-blown clear and opal glass with colour strings

DB: your studio works across a lot of different mediums. how did you find working with glass?

HC: my brother and I love new propositions. material in particular is very important in our work. the object is always born out of the material, then we move onto the function. so, sometimes we have a material, but we do not know what it will be transformed into, whether it is a lamp, or a sofa, or a glass… playing with the material is what drives us to the final object. over our 30+ year practice, we have been working with several materials — from clay to bamboo to bronze to leather to cardboard. it’s very intense, and we have produced a huge range of products. it’s interesting to observe how the materials we have been working with over our career can be applied to different objects. whenever we need inspiration, we go in search of other materials. also, we have been working quite a lot with craft techniques that are disappearing. we are trying to rescue traditions that are dying out, and giving them new life and adding a contemporary twist to them in order to make them relevant again.

image © designboom

DB: how did you decide from starting out with chandeliers to transitioning into a collection of tableware. how did this process evolve?

HC: my brother and I were very pleased with the chandelier collection. it was very interesting to observe the lamps transposing with glass. it all happened very spontaneously. the LASVIT team asked us to create a collection of glasses and tableware based on the same principles and we were happy to do so.

image © designboom

image © designboom