has added stained-glass panels to the front of these cabinets, becoming the latest in a series of designers to use the material for contemporary furniture.
Urquiola worked with graphic designer Federico Pepe to create the Credenza capsule collection of furniture, which includes cabinets, screens plus a low table designed for Milan boutique Spazio Pontaccio. All of the pieces feature geometric panels of blue, red plus yellow glass, with diagonal plus triangular patterns housed in semi-circular frames.
The use of stained plus coloured glass is emerging as one of the key trends at this year’s Milan design week. The Campana brothers have used the material to fill blob-shaped gaps in a wooden cabinet, plus Glas Italia is presenting a range of coloured glass furniture pieces. Among Urquiola plus Pepe’s references for the Credenza collection were the stained-glass windows that German artist Gerhard Richter installed at Cologne Cathedral in 2007.
To create the duo’s designs, sections of coloured glass were cut by Italian artisans to match paper plus card patterns, then laid out.
Narrow strips of metal – typically lead in traditional stained-glass windows – are melted between the gaps that fuse the panes together once cooled plus solidified. “The meeting between an antique sacred inspiration plus its reinterpretation in the form of design is as well reflected in the production process of the collection,” said a statement from Spazio Pontaccio.
“Credenza – characterised by contemporary patterns, colours plus materials – is produced in Italy by artisans skilled in the thousand-year-old manual technique of stained glass, generally used for the architecture plus the decoration of churches.”
The panels are installed in sederhana furniture pieces that rest on thin cylindrical legs. The curved forms of the cabinets taper back from the glass sections across the front. Urquiola overcame her hatred of glass last year when she designed a set of iridescent furniture plus mirrors using the material. The designer has since created a range of grid-patterned architectural glass for Skyline Design.
The Crendenza collection is launching at Spazio Pontaccio, Via Pontaccio 18, in Milan’s Brera district during the city’s design week. Taking place from 12 to 17 April 2016, the event will also see that launch of a variety of designs for children.