The Magic of Glass: Venini Celebrates 100 Years.

Photo by Lucrezia Roda.

Photo by Lucrezia Roda.

Photo by Lucrezia Roda.

Carafe and glassware by Venini. Photo by Enrico Fiorese.

Detail of the Poliedri chandelier.

Murano-based legacy glassmaker Venini celebrates 100 years with a photographic book filled with images of glass, archive documents, original drawings, and a photoshoot carried out in the furnace itself. These visuals allow readers to enter the beating heart of Venini craftsmanship and observe all the stages of glassmaking.

Founded in 1921 in Murano by the Milanese lawyer Paolo Venini and the Venetian antique dealer Giacomo Cappellin, Venini is renowned around the world for its artistic and cultural excellence and its fine creations.

The book showcases many pieces by the key designers and art directors who have collaborated with the company over the years—people who need no introduction—from Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, Gae Aulenti and Tadao Ando to Alessandro Mendini, Mario Bellini, Peter Marino and Ron Arad.

“Venini is an integral part of what I love about Venice. It promotes the age-old culture of the art of hand-blown glass,” explains Architect, and writer of the preface, Peter Marino. “I am not the first designer to sense the creativity of all the architects and designers who have passed through Venini since 1921. Working with Venini is a unique experience because it is the only glassmaker to have revolutionised Murano glass by contaminating an ancient tradition with contemporary design.”

Granule Sculptural Glassworks Collection by LAYER for Punta Conterie Venice.

Comprising five large vessels that celebrate the rich glassworking tradition, the palette of complementary and contrasting colours...

Edited by Federica Sala for Rizzoli, the book was a collaborative effort with help from artist Michela Cattai, design historians Domitilla Dardi and Ivan Mietton, Rainald Franz, Alberto Cavalli, founders of Anava Projects Wava Carpenter and Anna Carnick, the Professor of Contemporary Art History at the Brera Academy Elisabetta Longari and Director of the Brera Picture Gallery James Bradburne.

Their analyses complement a photographic portfolio, introducing the reader to the evocative world of glassmaking, with its rituals and gestures that transform the raw material into a moldable paste, incandescent castings and finally the solid form, filling it with colour and turning it into art.

Venini: The Magic Of Glass book is out now in Italy, with a release later this month worldwide. For more information, click here.

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Silvia Damiani in the workshop. Photo by Lucrezia Roda.

[Images courtesy of Venini. Photography by Lucrezia Roda & Enrico Fiorese.]