Love knows no boundaries. This is especially true for Nasir and Nargis Kassamali of Luminaire Lab, who since 2006 have been taking a stand against cancer with designer-driven, themed auctions benefitting the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Dubbed the “Love” initiative each event has over the years adopted a prefix that best describes the featured collection: from PuppyLove (2006) to PaperLove (2008) and DesignLove (2011), almost $1 million has thus far been raised by Luminaire’s charity auctions. For this fourth edition, the brightest and most brilliant are again coming together for GlasLove, an online and live auction featuring bespoke, limited edition and prototype works of renown designers and glass manufacturers such as Nendo, Piero Lissoni, Naoto Fukasawa, Patricia Urquiola, Arcade and Venini.
(Left: Layers B-Cold Colors by Nendo for Glas Italia; Right: Parts High designed and donated by Anna Torfs)
This year’s focus is on glass—the looking glass, the breakability and/or durability of glass, eye glasses, the serving glass—prompts a range of interpretations and connotations from one end of the spectrum to the other. Much like the human condition, glass can at once be strong and be fragile; it can both contain and be transparent. These various meanings are reflected in the breadth of works, which collectively explore form, function, process and aesthetics.
In the context of the fundraiser, the Kassamalis explain, “This year, we turn our ‘love’ to glass, a material characterized by the duality of its strong yet fragile nature. Poetically and metaphorically, glass reflects the fierce spirit of those battling cancer.”
(Left: Candy Collection Vase 2 designed by the Campana Brothers for Lasvit; Right: Ando Time designed by Tadao Ando for Venini)
In perhaps the most figurative of pieces—one that captures the fleetingness of time as well as the tension between one thing and its opposite—“Ando Time” by Tadao Ando is an hourglass that appears simple in design, but has been crafted with precision, structural composition, and, according to the architect, “planes curved in torsion.” Ando elaborates, “The real importance of architecture is its ability to move people’s hearts deeply. I am always trying to establish spaces where people can gather and interact with one another.”
GlasLove’s exhibition will be on display daily from November 28 to December 10 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 3930 NE 2nd Avenue, Suite 105. For more information contact glaslove@luminaire.com or call 786.509.7375.
Previous contributors to the “Love” initiative include designer Issey Miyake, architects such as Zaha Hadid and Herzog & De Meuron, and visual artists such as Arne Quinze, Michele Oka Doner, José Parlá, among others. All proceeds benefit the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. For more information, visit GlasLove on the website luminaire.com/glaslove.
