An hourglass designed by Tadao Ando for Venini is formed of two pieces: a revolved glass prism with a triangular base (external) and a glass cylinder comprising two parts in different colours (internal).
Venini: Ando Time
#137 The skills of Murano’s master craftsmen coupled with a layered geometric form – Tadao Ando’s sculpture takes a poetic look at passing time. #salone2015
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- La redazione di Domus
- 23 April 2015
- Milan
The parts are connected by a precious metal component (titanium) that lets the sand (aluminium oxide, a hard, dark mineral, almost like diamond, used to cut and polish glass) pass through. The apparently simple design could not have been possible with this major studio and a complex engineering process applied to the cast-iron mould required for the outer volume. The precise final form with its sharp edges and planes curved by the torsion requires a metal mould described in Murano vocabulary as being a fermo, one of the most fascinating glass processes.
This work contains the sense of passing time but also of interchangeability between top and bottom because the hourglass works by being turned upside down again and again. The desire to make fine metals an integral part of this project is a reference to the noble clock-making profession. The metal forms the support and structural part of the compositions designed by Tadao Ando for Venini.
April 14–19, 2015
Venini
Euroluce
Salone del Mobile
Hall 11, Stand C36-C40