Lucie Koldová, Brokis

Having helped spark the Czech Republic’s recent glass revival, Brokis brings together the qualities of clean, transparent monumentality and new lighting applications, but also rich noble materials like natural wood, brass and copper. TLmag caught up with Glass is Tomorrow participating designer and Brokis creative director Lucie Koldová at last month’s Euroluce, during Milan Design Week 2015, where she launched two new collections: LightLine and Flute. As product names hark back to recognisable shapes of bold instruments, voluminous foods or scientific utensils, the young brand employs a simple curated approach that taps into the savoir-faire of six Czech talents, an otherwise “close-knit family.”

Koldová has worked with the up-start company – mired in the rich Bohemian glassblowing tradition – for five years and has developed such symbolic pieces as Balloons, Capsula or Muffin. This collaboration  accounted for the normally furniture and even more so, lighting-oriented designer’s foray into glass – a material that has since brought her back to her roots. “Glass characterises my nation,” she confesses. “Its just so charming, warm and part of my identity.”   LightLine employs three glass technologies – glassworks-produced iron moulding, hand-blown volumes and sandblasting. The grey, beige, pink and orange parabolic forms apear to have been partially dipped in water, which explains Koldová’s inspiration. “The idea is that when you look at the lamp from one side, you see a straight line of light projected through the matte surface,” the designer explains.

Flute goes after the simplicity yet adaptability of combined glass and lighting. An exposed hinge an wire allows users to position the fixture at the right angle. The red-line in my work is that you see the source of light, nothing is hidden,” Koldová describes. “I like the translucency and brightness, the elements inside are presented as much as the brilliance of the outer glass.”