Conversations by Laura Panchaud
As part of the exhibition Silicate + Sodium + Calcium, designer Laura Panchaud explores the interplay between materiality and process, the importance of experimentation and the development of local knowledge and skills over time in discussions with various guests. It is about the relationship between design and production, sustainable practices and processes of renewal in glass art. The podcast guests are design historian and critic Rosa Chiesa, maestro Simone Cenedese from Murano, artist Marie Schumann, and designer Grace Prince.
Laura Panchaud is completing her masters in design at the IUAV university in Venice and currently founding an interdisciplinary platform that aims to create a participatory discourse around glass and its various forms of making. Through a wide range of formats it wants to create a conversation around craftsmanship, sustainable practice, material experimentation and local know-how. By inviting contemporary voices the platform wants to engage with glassmaking with a wide framed lens and an open mind.
Rosa Chiesa is Associate Professor of Design at the IUAV University of Venice. The architect obtained her PhD in Design Sciences in 2012, also at IUAV, with a thesis on the relationship between glass and design. Her research interests focus on the history of design and fashion, in particular the relationship between didactics and archives, digital humanities and the history and technology of materials, especially glass and the circular economy. She writes articles and essays in professional journals, is editor of the academic journal AIS/Design Journal, has collaborated with various universities and curated exhibitions.
For 30 years, Simone Cenedese has been making chandeliers and artistic objects in the glasswork factory bearing his name. It belongs to the youngest generation of Murano masters, who distinguish themselves for their renewed interest in bringing the glassmaking tradition to modernity. His creative work stems from his strong personality, with an openness to external suggestions and also influenced by the artists with whom he collaborates.
Marie Schumann lives and works in Zurich. She uses textile techniques to explore relationships between body, material and architecture. This ongoing process leads to objects, sculptures or installations, which in turn form the basis for something new.
Grace Prince is originally from London and has her studio in Zurich. She studied design at Central Saint Martins in London, completed a carpentry apprenticeship, and gained experience in marble carving, furniture making, and editorial set design. During her years in Milan, she worked extensively with artisans in various ateliers in Italy. Since 2020, Grace Prince has pursued a furniture practice that explores the light juxtaposition of materials, surfaces, and alignment. While maintaining the conditions of function, Grace Prince aims to shift an element of the sensory field through subtle compositions, orchestrating a mode of beauty that is not presence but a ‘there’ that is coated with a poetic absence. Without the use of ready-mades, each element is shaped by herself or in close collaboration with an artisan. For the past four years, parallel to her practice, she has worked as a materials researcher for the design studio Material Gesture at the chair of Prof. Anne Holtrop at ETH Zurich.