Barovier&Toso at Euroluce presents a wide and fascinating range of new ideas, fruit of creative and technological research and the precious contribution of international designers.
Relentless experimentation in the name of innovation but with due respect to history and tradition, impeccable use of the medium of glass, the capacity to reinvent itself and invest in talent and artistic design, and to open itself to international markets: these are the strengths of Barovier&Toso, ever ready to take on new challenges in the field of decorative lighting, like the adoption of new illumination technology. This is precisely the theme of the new 2015 collections, entirely equipped with energy-saving but powerful LED lamps.
For the 2014 Fair Marcel Wanders created the “Light e-motion” installation for Barovier&Toso, a presentation that opened the way to a venture between these two exceptional brands that led to the Perseus and Lust collections.
Perseus is the result of an audacious valorisation of tradition. It consists of a great number of elements in glass that represent almost the entirety of the glassmaking techniques developed and applied by Barovier&Toso in the course of its history, reinterpreted, coordinated and mixed almost subversively with respect to the canons of classicism. It’s a chandelier that’s a dazzling explosion of glass, with skilfully balanced volumes and colours alternating in the asymmetric play of its arms. The beauty and character of Perseus lie in its capacity to create a powerful, vivacious dynamic play of light and form, balanced by the harmonic grace that animates the entire structure.
Lust is an elegant, discrete and evocative table lamp born from Wanders’ idea to create an object of languid fascination, that hints the presence of something precious protected by its glass dome. Immersing one’s gaze into the soft forms of the glass you discover a fruit of tapered glass sprinkled with motes of gold leaf that exponentially multiply the refractions of the LED inserted in the special, finely finished concrete base, allowing Lust to generate its rich, diffused light.
Calvi Brambilla Architetti draw on the stylish elegance of the internationally popular New York look, here filtered through the unmistakeable warm, chic atmosphere of the Twenties and the sophisticated style of the Sixties, breathing life into two collections particularly suited to the world of architecture.
Palmyra is a very light LED lamp with graceful, vintage lines that gives an elegant, brilliant touch to any setting. It is made up of tiered, curving arms that suspend delicate twisted, spiral glass rods made using the traditional technique used by Venetian glassblowers use for making crosiers. The rods are attached to the arms by fine metal rings. Basic versions have three or four tiered arms, that can be made to different lengths to create an asymmetric look. The lamp can be increased in size and height to fit any project.
Lincoln, a sophisticated vertical lamp with an elegant style and a subtly playful spirit, is inspired on Philip Johnson’s interior designs. Apart from its aesthetic and design qualities, which give it a bold, dramatic look,
Lincoln’s most interesting aspect is its ability to mould light to its surroundings, spreading clouds of diffused light but with surprising accents. The blown-glass spheres attached in sequence to the central structure are made by the balotòn method and feature an embossed crisscross effect: an interweaving that filters the internal LEDs in a unique, fascinating way. The central aluminium body, with an exquisite rose gold finish, contains LEDs that project the light downwards. Being modular, Lincoln is particularly suited to the contract lighting world, and can be made to various lengths according to project requirements. The collection is completed by a ceiling lamp and a standard lamp. For some time now Barovier&Toso has been actively engaged with the Asian market, decisively establishing itself as a leader in the field of decorative lighting. Its collaboration with the prestigious AI Group design studio from Taiwan came about with the aim of combining the company’s know-how with Oriental creative sensitivity, and this has taken concrete form with the creation of the elegant Angel chandelier: a sophisticated reinterpretation of Barovier&Toso style in a vein intrinsically akin to Asian taste. Angel is a spiral of glass feathers wrapped dynamically around itself, and floats in space like a lightly unfolding wispy wing. Each feather is illuminated by LEDs, as is the ceiling attachment – which is also illuminated. The complex metal structure, made of myrrh-coloured metal, is calibrated to support each individual feather, each different from all the others in terms of shape, dimensions and inclination. The chandelier is available in two models of different heights, and in three different colours: crystal glass, cognac and rosé. Hastings, a suspension project conceived from a reinterpretation of the classic arms of a Murano chandelier, instead bears the signature of Chiaramonte Marin.
The design process started out from a simple chandelier arm in the form of a transparent glass tube, horizontally mirrored and then profiled and embellished by the characteristic twisted glasswork. This innovative solution resulted in a sinuous form that recalls the limbs of a bow. The light source is inserted in the connection between the upper and lower arms and is filtered by a small cylindrical plexiglas shade that contributes to diffusing the light. Hastings has been designed and made in a range of configurations: the asymmetrical ones have the individual arms shifted along the steel central cable, and produce a helical shape that generates a spiral of light. Another characteristic of the collection is the visible wiring, lined in braided fabric that gives continuity to the twisting motion of the arms and structure. At Euroluce Barovier&Toso also present Mazzodromo, a lamp with great aesthetic impact characterised by the mixture of its component elements. A metallic plate, square or rectangular, supports steel cables that suspend glass elements of various shapes, sizes andfinishes: a lively composition that develops vertically to reach up to 210 cm. The lamps in the plate and light sources in the elements are all LEDs.
