Lasvit liquidkristal by ross lovegrove. Milan 2012.
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Lasvit, the visionary Czech Republic glass manufacturer, unveiled Lasvit Liquidkristal by Ross Lovegrove at Milan’s Triennale Design Museum during Salone del Mobile. Liquidkristal, a new product offering from Lasvit’s Glass Architecture Division, was on view in an installation conceived for the Triennale’s Salone d’Onore. The exhibition featured a pavilion comprised of three forms, each measuring 180 feet in diameter and 46 feet in length. Each wall surface was composed of 24 freestanding crystal panels, measuring a total of 860 feet.
Leon Jakimic, founder and CEO of Lasvit, says, “Lasvit Liquidkristal designed by Ross Lovegrove is a milestone in Lasvit´s product development. Lasvit LiquidKristal is our company’s bridge to the world of architecture, useful as a crystal partition or screen and as insulated glass units for exterior facades.”
Liquidkristal is the result of an innovative process that the designer defines as “high precision heat transfer.” Lovegrove worked with Lasvit for more than a year to create the mobile, changing surfaces, inspired by the fluid, organic forms found in nature. The company deployed its most advanced technology to produce the transparent, undulating crystal panels, which appear dynamic, changing, capable of transmuting their shapes in a futuristic kaleidoscope. Working with mathematical models, the behavior of glass was simulated under controlled thermo induction. This produced a highly informed line code, which serves as the blueprint for the production process, where highly precise temperature control imbues the glass surface with the beauty of optical effects seen in water. Working with Lovegrove, Lasvit’s research facilities, led by Tomá Kamenec, developed a special flexible mold system to capture this effect. The finished product is highly customizable, allowing large-scale pattern aggregations over multiple sheets. At the Triennale these panels formed a spatial experience where the ceiling is used for projections and reveals the digital beauty of natural observation. [ ross lovegrove ] [ lasvit ]