Serena Confalonieri
Francesca Merciari of Scuola del Vetro Abate Zanetti
Serena Confalonieri designed a lamp conceived to reflect iconic aspects of the city of Venice. The solid base is an ode to the dry ground; the curved metal stand echoes the sinuous routes of the canals; the hat-shaped lampshade is opaque like the Venetian palazzos on the outside and decorated with a geometric pattern made in glass on the inside, evoking inlaid marble pavements. “I was aiming for a play of light and reflections that would amplify the lamp’s luminosity,” says Confalonieri. “When you flip the switch, a surprise motif of coloured rays comes bouncing out.” To make the glass shade, Francesca Merciari experimented with several techniques to find the one most suited to the design.
Glass rods are melted together in the furnace by placing them side by side on a flat surface and cutting them into a disk with a 60-centimetre diameter (30 cm for the table lamp). Then thermoforming takes place. A mould made of refractory ceramics shapes the disk three-dimensionally. “Although you might be familiar with the complexities of glass, every new project you make requires a process of trial and error. It’s like the first time all over again,” says Merciari. For the suspension lamp, shades of green mirror the lagoon. The floor lamp’s pink and terracotta palette is taken from the colours of Venetian plaster, as are the greys and pinks of the table lamp. Merciari and Confalonieri much enjoyed learning from each other, and are looking forward to continuing their collaboration in the future.