In questa pagina, dall’alto:“Binomio”, set per vin santo e cantuccini di Silvia Frosinini, realizzato da IVV; vaso scomponibile di Simona Canacci, realizzato da Cristalleria Europa. On this page, from the top:“Pair”, set for vin santo and cantuccini biscuits by Silvia Frosinini, produced by IVV; modular vase by Simona Canacci,produced by Cristalleria Europa.
Fragile transparencies Craftwork, design and teaching give life to design and objects in glass and crystal in an innovative training course for young designers towards the adaptationof an ancient craft to contemporary forms. We are currently witnessing a strong process of ethnic and social transformation. With industrial development and greater wealth, overa century, ceremonial objects, individual features and the heritage of a tradition have disappeared, with a consequent homogenisation. Professional and artistic teaching has undergone a transformation which concerns the product of the genius loci, with a modern quality aimedat juxtaposing what is done by machineto “what is handmade” emphasising the former and consequent standardisation. The idea of a craft studio as placeof learning seems to be long gone and crystallised in time. Twentieth Century culture has tried to recover the Italian craftwork figuration. In fact many designers, in the 60s and 70s experimented and shared experienceswith craft workers; among these encounters, the work of Sottssas withthe ceramist Londi for the Sesto ceramics has been important as has thatof Michelucci with the craft workersof Pistoia. One can talk of a hybrid between technology and craftwork which is based on the application of a leading technology to archaic techniques. These approaches to production come from the need of man to leave his own personal mark on the materials and production processes, or they are the outcomeof the charm exuded by the crafted item. From these multiple needs comesthe research for an innovative design, which uses the new technologiesand
which in a short production timeis able to combine the archaic withthe technological, the standardised item with the single piece, but above all identifies and reflects one’s own experience with the world of design and economy.In this scenario the small and medium enterprises in confined areas,with flexibility and dynamic potential, are able to fill important areas withinthe international markets. This process has animated the work within the Training Course for Project Designers in the Sector of Glass and Crystal, organised by the Centre of Business Expertise and Glass of San Giovanni Valdarno (AR). This is an innovative course in which space has been given to the imagination and creativity of the participants,the need and the desire of newof the companies, so that productand design innovation constitutesthe strong point in less well known sectors and with the need of “projects”.The course has had the
contributionof companies like Vilca Cristalleria, IVV, Cristalleria Europa, Nuova Cev, Vetreria in Toscana-CIVE, Cristalleria Corba. The project, coordinated by designer Angelo Minisci, architect Fortunato Fognari and Daniele Calamandrei,with the assistance of the ISIAof Florence, and by the Innovation Centre, has been designed not onlyto create a good product but to participate in the production stage among the various interlocutors (demand-offer- area)in the sector of glass and crystal in Tuscany.For some time the actions finalised towards stimulating the meeting between culture of the project and craft world have multiplied, directing themselves on issues identified in the tradition and resourcesof territorial specifications. The school and each training idea helpto make some aspects of this reality apparent, where once they were too often hidden and marginalized.
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