More than 20 years after their conception, the lamps designed by Arnaldo Pomodoro (Morciano di Romagna, 1926 - Milan, 2025) for Venini become reality. Designed in 2002 and remained unrealized until now due to their high technical complexity, the Stele lamps now see the light of day thanks to the collaboration between the historic Murano glassmaker and the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation. The project was previewed during Milan Design Week 2025, marking a significant moment of dialogue between contemporary art and high craftsmanship.
The collection is named Stele and consists of three luminous elements, inspired in shape and conception by the columns of ancient civilizations. To be unveiled first was Stele I, available in both a floor version, 180 centimeters high, and a table version, 60 centimeters high. Both variants were made in a limited edition of one hundred pieces each, with a structure that integrates bronze and blown glass, in keeping with Venini’s tradition of craftsmanship.
The original project dates back to 2002, when Pomodoro had developed a series of designs for Venini, envisioning a fusion between his typical sculptural language and the glassy material. However, at the time, technical difficulties related to production had prevented those drawings from being transformed into concrete objects. Only today, twenty-three years later, has it been possible to make the lamps thanks to the use of advanced technologies and the refinement of the Venetian furnace’s glassmaking techniques. The glass surface of the lamps accommodates the complex sculptural signs that distinguish Pomodoro’s work, reinterpreted in a luminous key. The central body, in sandblasted crystal-colored glass, contains an LED source that diffuses light from bottom to top, generating an enveloping, almost immaterial effect. As a counterpoint, the bronze bases and finials evoke the sculptor’s favorite material, accentuating the contrast between the metal density and the transparency of glass.
The result is an object that stands halfway between sculpture and design, between function and formal abstraction. The Stele take the form of contemporary totems, in which the solidity of metal and the luminous lightness of glass are balanced. The artist’s intent was to transfer to a transparent, backlit surface the same symbolic force as his monumental bronze sculptures, through a lexicon of engravings, reliefs and signs.
The realization of the collection required direct intervention by Venini’s best master glassmakers, who were called upon to overcome the usual technical limitations of the material. The furnace deployed an unprecedented working technique, capable of restoring the precision of detail required by the original design. A process that also involved the development of new solutions for the diffusion of light and the integration of glass and metal. The official presentation of Stele Iè took place in two different venues during Milan Design Week 2025. On the one hand, in the Venini boutique at Via Montenapoleone 10, where a dedicated exhibition was set up; on the other hand, at the brand’s stand inside the Euroluce event, where visitors were able to have a close look at the technical and formal complexity of the project. In both locations, an experience designed to enhance the interaction between light, matter and artistic gesture was proposed.
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| Lamps designed by Arnaldo Pomodoro for Venini in 2002 become reality |
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