Italian influence in Contemporary Glass Show at Steuben New York

The man who gives glass class

Shanghai Daily News
March 30, 2005

The glory of the restoration of the historic building of Bund 18 is in the way the glassmaker's art has been applied throughout the renovation.
Zhao Feifei talks with the architect responsible for the transformation.
From the moment you step into the entrance of Bund 18 -- an iconic building of the Shanghai jazz scene back in the 1930s -- the first thing to catch the eye is the beautiful three-meter-high red chandelier in the foyer. This extravagant fixture was created by the building's restorer, Filippo Gabbiani, in his workshop back in Venice.
``It took several glassmaking artisans to blow it into shape,'' says Gabbiani proudly. He's the chief architect of Kokaistudios who renovated Bund 18 and also a descendant of the Gabbiani family of glassmaking craftsmen. ``The amazing thing is that it weighs only 100 kilograms. Venetian people have a special way to make glass light and transparent.'' And his skills are not only on the ground floor of Bund 18 -- the decor of Bar Rouge on the 7th floor features 22 small red chandeliers and they blend in a romantic way into the ambience of the top floor of the historic building. To display his own fascination and pride in Venetian glassmaking, Gabbiani has opened a posh boutique on the second floor. Gabbiani glass carries on the age-old special technique of earlier centuries.

Each piece is painstakingly handmade by masters in Murano, an island near Venice, incorporating a variety of styles ranging from reproductions of 18th- and 19th-century Venetian pieces to modern and original designs. Meticulously crafted vases and vessels, decanters and goblets, paperweights, lamps and even jewelry are displayed.

Many of them are limited-edition pieces. The price of a vase can vary from 4,000 yuan (US$480) to 20,000 yuan. ``Not everybody understands glass, so I show it as if it were jewelry or a painting,'' says the 36-year-old designer. ``I like my customers to appreciate glass the way they would if visiting a museum or an art gallery.'' The store is Gabbiani's first in Asia. His showroom in Italy is near the 15th-century Palazzo Bragadin, which is the ancient location of the home of the legendary merchant Marco Polo's family. ``At the age of seven, I read a book of Marco Polo's travels in China. From then on, I started dreaming about this ancient country,'' he says.

In 1991, Gabbiani arrived in China. He rode on bicycle, horseback, went by boat across the desert in Inner Mongolia, the mountains of Tibet and the rivers of Yunnan Province. This trip reinforced Gabbiani's dream and desire to live and work in China. He quit several projects back home and moved to China. His first job was in southern China's Guangdong Province, on an architectural planning project for a lifestyle building complex owned by a Hong Kong developer. After that, he landed the job to restore Bund 18 to its former glory. The Gabbiani family history covers generations of artists, painters, sculptors and art dealers over several centuries. The family operates art galleries in Paris, London and New York. ``My mother started to make glass 30 years ago and my grandfather, who is a famous watercolor painter, also made glass,'' says Gabbiani.

Now in Murano, Gabbiani family has a team of about 50 glassmaking artisans working for the company. ``Venice still harbors ancient glassmaking secrets,'' says Gabbiani. ``Glassmaking traditions pass from father to son, from master to apprentice. Competition is fierce. The industry is of such importance that, in the past, a traitorous glassblower who revealed his secrets would be punished by exile or even death.'' Italian glass craftsmanship is famous worldwide. Venice is crammed with glass shops and it's estimated that there are at least 1,000 in San Marco alone. Murano has always been a secretive island and although it's only a five-minute vaporetto ride from the center of Venice, it's mysterious even to Venetians. A major glass center throughout the centuries, Murano has more than 250 glass furnaces, many of them operated by two to five artisans. Fewer than 20 furnaces have more than 50 employees. Today, the process remains much the same except that the furnaces are heated by natural gas, not wood, and the ingredients come from different localities. The tools themselves have been unchanged for centuries, dating back to the Middle Ages.

Glassblowing in Murano is usually more expensive than Chinese, Czech or Indian. It's partly because the Venetians were the first to produce clear glass and the Venetians, being master traders, sold the glass around the world from the days of Marco Polo. The style and artistry of Venetian glass has continued to maintain its value and reputation throughout the world. ``In 1291, fear of fire moved Venetian glassmaking to this island, where many of the factories remain today,'' says Gabbiani. During the era of the Venetian Republic, the Doge of Venice granted special privileges to the Muranesi. They had their own ``Golden Book'' which listed the most important families, creating a local hierarchy which still exists -- unofficially -- today. Keeping the glassmakers cloistered on an island, swearing them to secrecy and showering them with riches and titles of nobility practically guaranteed the Venetians control of the marketplace.

The art of glassmaking is nearly as old as the Pyramids of Egypt dating back about 3,500 years. The art of blowing glass is more recent and began some 2,000 years ago. Over the centuries, the secrets of glassmaking -- what ingredients to mix together and in what quantities -- have been lost and rediscovered. Venice's best-known glass has a distinctive swirl pattern in several colors. ``There are mainly two types of glass in the world: crystal, which is heavy and very difficult to give color, and Venetian glass, which is light and transparent. Red glass is the most expensive. That's because when you make it, a lot of glass has to be thrown away,'' explains Gabbiani.