Glass bowl in green “filo continuo” continuous coil glass

In continuous pursuit of new shapes for glass, at the start of the 1940s Carlo Scarpa made a few prototypes obtained by winding an unbroken glass filament around a shape in refractory material. The technique was taken from the so-called “continuous coil” or lucignolo ceramic process in which strips of clay are laid atop another until the intended form is reached. Originally developed in South America but also used in ancient times in Europe, Scarpa was so fascinated by the technique that he applied it to glassmaking. 

Although the desired effect is harder to obtain with glass melt, the result is astounding, even more so when seconded by chromatic abundance in the material. Giuseppe Mazzariol and Giuseppe Barbieri described Scarpa’s singular aesthetic research as the inextricable bonding of beauty with impermanence. Both are necessary, both undependable, with the supreme awareness of not being able to give form to each and every design.

Bibliography

Marino Barovier, Carlo Scarpa. Glass of an Architect, Skira, Milan 1999, pages 173, 222 no. 258; Marino Barovier (editor), Carlo Scarpa. Venini 1932-1947, Skira, Milan, 2012, exhibition catalogue (Venice, Le Stanze del Vetro, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, August 29, 2012 – January 6, 2013), page 466.