In all its collections, Vistosi exhibits an iconic design, the result of a technique and a skilful processing of materials. The company knows perfectly the secrets jealously handed down for centuries of the compositions of sand and minerals that always bring a new “alchemy” increasing transparency, malleability and purity of glass and allowing the realization of new colors, decorations and reflections. The millenary techniques of hand-blown and hand-worked glass, thus, coexist with experimentation in design and in the combination of materials, contributing to the creation of contemporary collections. Vistosi lives a continuous tension aimed at the improvement of techniques and materials and the search for unexpected harmonies between glass and its forms, in the awareness that beautiful glass does not live by its own light but draws strength from the details.
VDW Light Selection 2022
Sala Sansovino – Baglioni Hotel Luna
San Marco, 1243, Venezia
LUCIANO VISTOSI
Born in Murano on 24 February 1931, Luciano Vistosi spends his entire childhood and most of his adolescence in the family furnace, where his restless character absorbs and learns to know the moods, colors, sounds and flavors of the ancient tradition of art glass. After his studies, his career as an artist appears from the beginning marked by a strong aspiration to experimental research: his left-handedness forces him to reinvent the tools of the craft to work glass with his left hand. The tension towards absolute forms, the desire to link style to the quality of the materials and the conviction that drawing is only the starting point for a work that can follow different paths, lead to the realization of his glass sculptures. Since the sixties there have been solo exhibitions and group shows all over the world: from Venice to San Francisco, from Madrid to Japan through Cologne, only exceptions to an artistic temperament otherwise ascetic and lonely. In the management of the family business, he has made a fundamental contribution to the development of the name Vistosi, taking the brand beyond conservatism. He has designed many collections, whose items are still in production today, also working under the pseudonym of Michael Red.
FAVARETTO & PARTNERS
In 1973 Paolo Favaretto, just graduated in architecture, begins his activity as Studio Favaretto. The same year he comes to design his first chair, Agorà, a hugely successful product that is still in production today. In 1980 he begins to have the opportunity to expand his audience beyond the Italian borders, collaborating with the first foreign customer, arriving in 1986 to receive the International Product Design Award of the Institute of Business Designers USA for Powerbeam Desk, first example of a desk with extruded beam and cable. In 2009, Francesco Favaretto, Paolo’s son, returned to Italy after working in Canada and decided to start the Favaretto&Partners studio together with his father. In 2015, the Firm was awarded 13 international awards, bringing the historical total to 79 awards. The following year, the JUBE lamp collection was conceived for Vistosi, now the company’s best seller. Yesterday as today the studio aims to follow the principles of “Design for All”, a declaration accepted by the European Commission, according to which it is necessary to ensure the accessibility of places and objects to the largest possible number of users. Today the studio has 542 design projects with a predominance of chairs, but also lamps, desks and more, all designed and completed with insatiable curiosity, tenacity and passion for research.
ANGELO MANGIAROTTI
Discover more about the artist on his personal page.
OBJECTS
JUBE
Jube offers a new dimension to the elegant and delicate look of blown glass. Two glasses combined, perfectly assembled, almost like a single piece. The tone-on-tone colours give the sinuous lamp a precious vintage mood.
GIOGALI
Giogali is composed by the repetition of a pure element: the crystal hook. It is the intuition of a Master of Italian design like Angelo Mangiarotti who, in 1967, gave rise to Giogali, best seller of the Vistosi catalogue. It is an iconic weave applied to the version you prefer.
MINIGIOGALI
The reduced version of Giogali, thanks to which the glass hooks can be used for smaller wall installations, standard or customized.
MUNEGA
Collection of lamps in blown glass and shaped freehand to create an iconic shape.
