OK
Domus Domus
newsstand
SUBSCRIBE
  • Magazine
  • Digital Edition
  • Digital Archive
LANGUAGE
  • it
  • en
Hi Logout
Sign up / Log in
  • News
  • Architecture
  • Interiors
  • Design
  • Art
  • Archive
  • Products
  • Design Essentials
  • Design Stories
  • Nordic Design
Sections
  • News
  • Architecture
  • Interiors
  • Design
  • Art
  • Archive
  • Products
  • Covers
  • Biographies
  • Architecture Firms
  • Sustainable Cities
  • Gallery
  • Design Stories
  • Domus for Design
Magazine
  • Subscriptions
  • Digital Edition
  • Current Issue
  • Guest Editor
  • Digital Archive
  • Nordic Design
Specials
  • Design Essentials
  • Modern Work
  • DomusAir
  • Milano Design Week
  • Worldesign
Current Issue

Domus 1103 hits the shelves

Follow us
LANGUAGE
  • it
  • en
Hi Logout
Sign up / Log in
newsletter Icon
results No results Please enter a long search term

      The essentials: 25 of the best mirrors

      The essentials: 25 of the best mirrors

      01 / 25

      Next gallery

      Prague’s new pedestrian bridge

      1. Convex Mirror

      Van Eyck gave us an emblematic example in “Arnolfini Portrait,” but the origin of convex mirrors is much older. In medieval beliefs, a reflecting and deforming sheet was thought to ward off witches and evil spirits, hence the French name, “œil de sorcièrel,” “witch’s eye.”

      Jan Van Eyck, Il ritratto dei coniugi Arnolfini, 1434, London National Galley 

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      2. Venetian Mirror

      It represents, together with the 19th century mirror called Napoleon III, one of the most emblematic types of mirrors and a legacy of skilled craftmanship that made the lagoon islands an unparalleled creative and productive hub. Like any other archetypical object, Venetian mirrors continue to stimulate the imagination of designers, who reinterpret it – like in the latest interpretation offered by Elena Salmistraro with Medusa – and its compositional construction with chromatic variations or new allegorical references.

      Elena Salmistraro, Medusa, 2021

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      3. F.A.33, Gio Ponti, Gubi, 1933

      Symbol of the Ponti style and forerunner of the grace that the Milanese designer impressed with his concave shapes, Gubi was initially inserted in the FontanaArte catalog. The slender frame and soft curves made it a pass-partout object and a style reference for the decades to come as well.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      4. Milo CM, Carlo Mollino, Zanotta, 1938

      The passion for the female body that Mollino explored with his pictures resurfaces in the shape of this crystal mirror, which echoes the profile of Milo’s Venus and adds no decorative frills to the sensual grace of its curves.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      5. Les Grandes Transparences, Man Ray, Simon by Cassina, 1938

      An anonymous oval mirror turns into one of the symbols of domestic Dadaism thanks to the ironic contradiction impressed on the reflecting surface by Man Ray’s writing. We owe the mass production of this item to Dino Gavina in the early 1970s.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      6. Unghia (“Nail”), Rodolfo Bonetto, Bonetto Design, ‘50

      Also called “lipstick,” this cylindrical-based mirror had great commercial success, and proof of this is the number of copies and adaptations created beyond the original Bonetto production. With its essential lines, it is still a highly practical object, capable of combining dry shapes to small volumes.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      7. Disco Ball

      The quintessential representative of pop culture, the mirrored sphere was created as a performative object for discos to be used with light projection. With its entry into the domestic sphere, even just as an ornament, it became a fetish and an invitation to always embrace the recreational spirit. It earned an unmatched status that intrigued designers, as the Rotganzen (Quelle Fête Muffin) and Kelly Wearstler’s (The Persistence of Memory) tribute-work prove.

      Photo pro2audio su Adobe Stock

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      8. Ultrafragola, Ettore Sottsass, Poltronova, 1970

      How many, in the design community, have taken at least one selfie with their own reflection in Sottsass’s mirror? It’s the symbol of the crasis between a mirror and a lamp, Ultrafragola is maybe even the most renowned peak and the object of his production and an example of one of the most experimental collaborations between designer and publisher. It starts from the “Mobili Grigi” (Gray furniture) line and, with the sinuous waves of its frame, it echoes the movement of wavy hair around the face. 

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      9. Andromeda, Nanda Vigo, Glas Italia, 1974

      Light and spatial compositions arranged according to the abstractionism codes are the genetic sequence of Nanda Vigo’s production. For this line of mirrors, initially launched in 1974 and today represented by Glass Italia, the succession of transparent and mirrored parts contributes to redefine both the perception of the object and that of the surrounding space, which is sectioned and reflected. A suspension system allows the mirrors to be installed with different inclinations. 

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      10. Caadre, Philippe Starck, Fiam, 1999

      Caadre – Starck only need the repetition of the letter “a” to convey the spirit of his design. By re-owning a noble French tradition – isn’t the most famous hall of the Palace of Versailles the Hall of Mirrors? – Starck magnified its hypnotic power in a modern key. In addition to its large size, Caadre stands out for the silver finish of the four plates that form the frame, whose almost completely open joints seem to open the way to a possible rethinking of the support itself.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      11. Bavaria Mirror, Studio Job, Murray Moss Collection, 2008

      Presented for the first time at Design Miami, Studio Job’s mirror reinterprets the figurative patterns of the 17th and 18th-century Bavarian furniture though illustrations that use flat, symmetry, and color as a desecration tool. Like a small tabernacle, the mirror stands out for its two doors which, once closed, hide the reflecting surface.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      12. Miraggio (“Mirage”), Estudio Campana, Edra, 2009

      Among the most famous pieces of the Campana brothers, Miraggio sublimates the joyful and spontaneous bricoleur approach that has distinguished Fernando and Huumberto’s work, turning it into a small piece-jewel of the house. The modules that compose it, made of laser-cut mirrored methacrylate, are assembled by hand, and tied together with nylon ties, confirming Estudio Campana's vocation for the ennobling of forms and materials deemed poor.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      13. Déjà Vu, Naoto Fukasawa, Magis, 2010

      Simple and essential, it resembles the shape of a tray, but it can also be seen as a sophisticated and abstract reinterpretation of a classic framed mirror, here made in polished extruded aluminum, transformed thanks to the researched essentiality of its profile. It is available in three different models, both in wall-mounted and free-standing variants.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      14. Bench Mould Mirrors, Gilthero, 2011

      Gilthero transposed the technique used for plaster frames, which requires a tracery mold to make oval shapes, to create these mirrors. The frame is made in jesmonite, a harder and denser material than plaster, with a marble-like finish.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      15. Loop, Front, Porro, 2014

      Loop stands out for its play of reflections created by the multiplying effect of the succession of two reflecting surfaces; it has an eight-shaped wooden frame that seats two perpendicular mirrors, one mounted to the wall and one that functions as a shelf.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      16. Obsidian mirror, Studio Drift, 2014

      This small mirror is the result of a recycling process and relative waste management, that of chemicals treated in a high-temperature furnace. The resulting synthetic obsidian is molded into an abstract shape with soft lines and a surface that has been polished to return a reflection.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      18. Shimmer, Patricia Urquiola, Glas Italia, 2014

      As the name itself hints, the collection of Shimmer mirrors stands out for the kaleidoscopic and shimmering effect of the iridescent finish applied to its borders. It is an aura that Patricia Urquiola applies to a wide range of formats, both free-standing and wall-mounted, and that a decade after its launch still shows its relevance, thanks to its affinity with fluid and metaversic codes of the latest design generation.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      17. Rondo, Oscar Zieta, 2014

      Rondo, produced with the FiDU technology, used by Zieta to inflate the space between two welded metal sheets through an injection of pressurized air, is a doughnut-shaped mirror that stands out for its sculpture-like shape that merges strength and a reassuring aspect. It is also available in a colored version or copper

      Photo Marta Wiecek

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      19. New Perspective, Alain Gilles, Bonaldo, 2015

      Gilles elevates the mirror with shelf category by drawing a perspective grid and the sheet. The black shelf simulates a windowsill, framing the point of view and turning New Perspective into a means for wondering about ourselves and our world.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      20. Coulourscape Mirror, Germans Ermičs, 2015

      Another variation of iridescence and a constant in Ermičs’s production since his early days, Coulourscape plays with the juxtaposition of colors and their glows, creating a mirror that encompasses both simplicity and metaphysical presence.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      21. Deadline, Ron Gilad, Cassina, 2016

      The porosity of design, art, and lightness of a humorous exercise is one of the characteristics of Gilad’s piece. In the Deadline collection, 16 unique pieces offer visual research that stands in between geometry and optical effects. The technique used – the juxtaposition of two glass sheets, one back-painted and the other decorated with abstract shapes – elevates the meaning of the mirror and turns it from a means of faithful reproduction into a new opportunity to understand and grasp space. 

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      22. Claud Glass, Commonplace, 2017

      A mirrored surface somewhere in between a black hole and a trip back in time: Claud Glasse is a black mirror that, in addition to reflecting the image of those looking into it, projects a timelapse landscape, to be observed through the meticulous details of the documented videos.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      23. Press mirror, Philippe Malouin, 2017

      As the best designer of his generation, Philippe Malouin determines the shape by playing with the process more than with the decoration, and he does so through a simple yet clear gesture: squashing the top end of a stainless-steel tube and turning it into a surface. Once polished, the tube is turned into a small tabletop mirror that can be moved as desired.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      24. Broken Mirror, Snarkitecture, Gufram, 2018

      First designed as an installation for the exhibition “The Conversation Show” (curated by Maria Cristina Didero) at the Design Museum Holon and then commercialized by Gufram, Broken Mirror explores the theme of the crack and turns the mirror into a new door to be crossed to reach, at least with our mind, dream-like places fueled by both real and imaginary reflections.  

      Photo Elad Sarig

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT

      25. Vitrail, Inga Sempé, Magis, 2018

      French Gothic glass windows, but in an abstract key. This could be considered the meaning behind the series of mirrors design for Magis by Inga Sempé, who brings back the meaning of color in Medieval cathedrals with a minimal style. Technology becomes a means to make production democratic: the frame is no longer made in lead but created using caoutchouc.

      View article
      View article
      01 / 25
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT
      View article

      01 / 00

      View article
      View article
      01 / 00
      • SHARE
      • PIN IT
        Loading
        Share
        • Sections
          • Design essentials
        • Keywords
        • News
        • Architecture
        • Design
        • Art
        • Opinion
        • Archive
        • Products
        • Foreign Editions
        • Contacts
        • Biographies
        • Architectural movements
        • Buildings
        • Architecture Firms
        • Design Essentials
        • Urban stories
        • Gio Ponti
        • Follow us
        Legal Note

        Editorial DomusEditoriale Domus Spa
        Via G. Mazzocchi, 1/3
        20089 Rozzano (Mi) -
        Codice fiscale, partita IVA e iscrizione al Registro delle Imprese di Milano
        n. 07835550158
        R.E.A. di Milano n. 1186124
        Capitale sociale versato € 5.000.000,00 - All rights reserved - Privacy - Informativa cookie completa - Gestione Cookies

        China Germany India Mexico, Central America and Caribbean Sri Lanka Korea icon-camera close icon-comments icon-down-sm icon-download icon-facebook icon-heart icon-heart icon--mobile-logo icon-next-sm icon-next icon-pinterest icon-play icon-plus icon-prev-sm icon-prev Search icon-twitter icon-views icon-instagram