2022 is the International Year of Glass and is being celebrated by the UN General Assembly throughout the world. Age-old yet always innovative, capable of shaping trends and exciting the senses, glass is an iconic material which stimulates touch, sight, hearing and even taste when it is used at the table. Plus, it is a sustainable material which is good for both people and the planet.
And Italy is becoming more and more of a leader in the promotion and production of this material, and Tonelli Design, the Marche brand which has produced designer glass décor, is a clear example. On this occasion it has designed its own Glass Vademecum.
With its history, secrets and innovative production techniques, the particularities of this extraordinary green material can be seen below:
The qualities of glass: the environment and health. It’s unnecessary to mention that, as it is completely recyclable and made up of natural ingredients, glass is one of the most sustainable materials. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, it is also the only material which is safe for contact with food. Plus, it is easy to clean and sanitize, odorless and inert.
Designing with glass – what you need to know. It is one of the most flexible and versatile materials as it is compact, structurally homogeneous, inert from a chemical and biological point of view, resistant to liquids, gas, vapors and microorganism, unchanging, sterilizable and transparent. All of these excellent intrinsic characteristics allow for freedom when planning a design.
The technique. Glassmaking is an ancient art which today still requires excellent craftspeople. Grinding, drilling, stratification and tempering are complex processes which make glass into a piece of décor and art. These have always been a part of the Tonelli Design’s DNA and history in Pesaro history.
Sustainable innovation: Kristal Fusion by Tonelli. With a view to being sustainable, in addition to using an eco-sustainable material, the goal must also be to reduce waste. Tonelli does so with Kristal Fusion Technology, a manufacturing process which came from an idea of the designer Paolo Lomazzi to bring glass waste back to life. Tonelli consumes around 200 tons of flat plate glass each year, 10,000 of which becomes production scraps. With this innovative technique, the glass gets recovered and mixed with other elements including resin. This creates a new recycled, ecological, resistant, transparent and creative material which allows us to take a further step towards a green future.
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