VERONESE 2017 NOVELTIES
A YEAR OF REFLECTION
This year, we took a look back at our creations spanning almost nine decades, including some of our most recent collections, to create new designs and reshape others.
Each year, we set out to present new contemporary designs that either call upon the traditional techniques of Murano glass artisans or inspire them to develop new skills. For the 2017 collections, we decided to do something novel and pull iconic Murano glass pieces dating back to the 1930s from the company archives and, without altering them, develop completely new designs.
Veronese presents the MARTHA collection, designed by the President of Veronese, Fredie Jochimek , and the PAST & FUTURE collection, designed by Piet Hein Eek . Classic Murano glass elements are at the center of each of these collections, with each designer, in their own style, giving these iconic pieces of glass a new framework to exist in. While MARTHA borrows from the designs of the past to create something new, PAST & FUTURE uses the actual vintage Murano glass elements to create the chandelier of tomorrow.
Veronese also marks 017 by looking back at recent collections HIGHLIGHT , designed by Dan Yeffet , and BIJOU BIJOU , designed by Laurence Brabant , and reshaping them by expanding their colors, textures, design details and finishes.
Designed by the President of Veronese, Fredie Jochimek , the MARTHA collection is a tribute to the Veronese brand’s 86-year history. With the vision of a contemporary design, Mr. Jochimek pulled from the company archives the most overlooked glass elements of the classic Murano glass chandelier – the cup and bobeches. Traditionally, the cups were designed for the bottoms of chandeliers to cover the inner workings of the lighting design, while bobeches were designed to capture melting wax. Mr. Jochimek boldly places these ornamental glass elements at the center of his collection.
With these newly handmade classic Murano glass bobeches and cups, the designer created a contemporary modular lighting design that can evolve into various independent suspensions. Each modular design begins with an LED light source encased in a metal box from which metal extensions can be added at various directions. From this point, additional metal extensions can be endlessly added by connecting them to the glass elements. The bobeches and cups become the intersections and the points of light. By combining a modern metal frame with a modular design and classic Murano glass elements, Mr. Jochimek connects the past with today.
PAST & FUTURE by Piet Hein Eek
Since 1931, we have been building a treasure trove of spare parts of glass blown by the highly skilled Italian artisans of Murano in the basement of our Parisian showroom. Thousands of pieces that had been stored for nearly a century-exquisitely crafted cups, drops, rings, and flowers-were patiently waiting for a Prince Charming to bring them to light.
Our creative director, Ruben Jochimek, ceaselessly searched for the wizard who could give these marvels a second life in the spirit of today. Piet Hein Eek , a Dutch designer with a mastery of upcycling, was a perfect fit for the project. The designer dreamed up a Meccano-like principle of 40 cm clear Murano glass tubes equipped with LED lighting.
The tubes can be assembled to create longer chandeliers and table lamps. Murano glass jewels can be slotted, creating the chandelier of tomorrow.
One year after its launch, for 2017 we expanded the HIGHLIGHT collection to include new vibrant colors and textures, giving new life to the Murano glass techniques of bygone years. The HIGHLIGHT collection marks the first collaboration between Veronese and designer Dan Yeffet . This contemporary collection of floor and table lamps combines Murano glass and marble.
This year, the collection will offer 14 different colors for each design. The collection will also offer two new textures for the table lamps: ballaton and rigadino . Each design, including the one towering at 111 cm in height, is made of a single piece of blown Murano glass. Additionally, the light source can now be placed either at the top of the lamp or the bottom. By bringing the light source to the top, the shadow effect becomes more pronounced, especially with the new textured designs.
BIJOU BIJOU by Laurence Brabant
Together with Laurence Brabant, we expanded and reshaped the BIJOU BIJOU collection to include table lamps, new finishes, and a metal element that further enriches the design and its versatile nature. Originally designed in 2005 by Laurence Brabant, the BIJOU BIJOU, as its name suggests, was inspired by the design of a long necklace. The original collection included three suspensions made of various metal links and different gem-shaped Murano glass pendants.
Recognizing the beauty of Murano glass artistry, the designer looked for ways to emphasize the bold shapes of the various Murano glass pendants. Her process began with simply plucking the glass elements from her original design and giving them their own existence as table lamps. The result is a collection of BIJOU BIJOU table lamps in bold colors, pure lines, and radiant finishes. She then further emboldened these unique Murano glass elements by crowning each one with a large metal ring. The ring has both an aesthetic and functional purpose for the whole collection.
The CELL by Patrick Naggar was inspired by the designer’s most recent collection for Veronese, the Chromosome. Enthralled with the Chromosome’s elegant curves encasing an innovative lighting system, the designer dug deeper and designed a new collection consisting of a suspension and two wall lamps.
The new collection is an abstract interpretation of its predecessor with an emphasis on its iconic curves. The encased light source of the CELL suspension, while different from the Chromosome, is once again innovative in its own way. Known for gaining inspiration from science and modern technology, Patrick Naggar for the first time places LED technology at the center of his design. For the CELL suspension, the designer designed an inner tube of Murano glass with gold leaf to create a rare lighting experience with today’s LED technology.
ICE by Reda Amalou originates from the fascination with designing an iconic piece of Murano glass that can evolve into various compositions, welcoming a perpetual creative process. With this objective in mind, the designer created a textured rectangular sheet of handmade Murano glass with a geometric, hand-pressed pattern that catches the light and gently diffuses it. The flexibility of this design further emphasizes the ever-changing nature of contemporary design.
To inaugurate this novel creative journey, the designer created two wall lamps and a suspension. The delicate design of the brass frame of the wall lamps was made possible by today’s LED technology. Additional designs will be added to the ICE collection throughout the year, including a table lamp.
