“Glass is, in general, the enemy of secrets.” Quoting Walter Benjamin, the Centre d’Innovation et de Design (CID) in Grand Hornu, Belgium, has opened the doors to some remarkable works by desingers and artists who have experimented with glass in the furnaces of Cirva, in Marseille.

For more than 30 years this research and production workshop has opened its doors to 200 creatives attracted by this material, and in the process amassed a collection of 600 works. Designers and artists are required to explore new aspects and dimensions of glass, assisted by skilled craftsmen and glass blowers, trained to ongoing experimentation.

Residencies might vary according to the time needed for each project - it could be few months or years - and designers can be either invited by the institution or through the yearly competition held at Design Parade/Villa Noailles in Hyères, that offers the possibility to develop and produce a vase.

Divided in two parts, the exhibition puts forward both the works of eight prize winners (Jean-Baptiste Fastrez, Brynjar Sigurdarson, Jilie Richoz, Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini, Laura Couto Rosado, Samy Rio, Pernelle Poyet and Carolien Niewbling) and the pieces of established designers such as Andrea Branzi (who worked with Cirva between 2001 and 2008), David Dubois, Martin Szekely, Sylvain Willenz and Normal Studio, who also designed the exhibit layout.

“We were looking for a material that was the exact opposite of glass, so we opted for cork” explains Eloi Chafaï from Normal Studio, when talking about the set design. “Cork derives from plants, glass from minerals, it is completely opaque and its softness is perfect to hold such a fragile materiala s glass.” Normal Studio presented a work four years in the making, in which it experiments with materials like fiberglass textile and metal mesh to use as mould and obtain new tactile effects.