Designers are using the ancient art to shape the face of modern design.

It is said that the art of glassmaking originated in Mesopotamia and Egypt and dates as far back as 3000 BC. It wasn’t until about four millennia later when glassmaking techniques reached Venice via Mediterranean trade and local artisans began producing objects and mosaics. The role of the fiolario, or glassmaker, was first recorded in the 10th century, and since then that rich cultural heritage has been a heavily guarded Venetian patrimony.

But with the increasingly global popularization of heritage brands like Barovier&Toso and Venini, the Venetian island of Murano is under the international spotlight like never before. Its guarded workshops and ateliers have opened their doors to new, fresh ideas and an international wave of designers.

With Italian firm Salviati and glass maestro Franco Zane, English architect and urbanist Norman Foster and the Norman Foster Foundation reinterpreted the Venetian chandelier with Hydra: a site-specific glass installation that creates a dialogue between Venice’s historical heritage and a contemporary design vision. Composed of a structure of organic arms culminating in blown-glass light elements, the work explored glass as both a structural and expressive material. With Hydra, Foster imbued his urban vision into ancient craft, highlighting the design innovation and the expertise of Murano’s master glassmakers.

Italian artist Michela Cattai, who divides her time between her Milan gallery and a Venice furnace, is known for her sculptural expressions of tension, balance, light and movement. Her approach often embraces the ancient process of using botanical forms and organic plants as the blueprint for new design.

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