#VistosiVirtualMuseum

A longtime friendship between Vistosi and atelier o?

The basis of the Museo Virtuale project is a longtime friendship between Vistosi and atelier o?. Over many years and for a variety of clients and projects the two companies have teamed up and created a deep understanding and appreciation for each other.

?With the pandemic, a period during which events and fairs were stopped, there came a moment to reconsider how to exhibit and share a company’s work. This new challenge resulted in Vistosi’s surprising and exciting proposal to create a virtual project and the subsequent request for atelier o? to design its the architecture and scenography.

Given both companies close relation and link to materials and the physical work, this ambition shows the need to confront oneself with the evolving situation in the world and to challenge existing ways of thinking.

Murano catapulted to the future

Murano belongs to the historical part of Venice and the Moretti family, who also owns Vistosi, has a close and intimate link to the island. Our aim was to construct a virtual experience based on the real situation and in connection to the historical roots of the site. Hence creating a virtual ‘future’ inspired by the history of the Moretti family and the Murano environment.?

The underlying idea was to play between the real and the virtual, to consider existing starting points and buildings in reality and to create interventions by adding virtual elements. Our goal was to ensure that virtual proposals are also possible in reality, that is, to take into account the main constraints and, finally to play with the ambiguity between virtual and real. This objective has been a guiding factor throughout the project development and has had a significant impact on the proposals made.

?A magic architectural landscape of water and light designed by atelier o?

Water is present everywhere in Murano. Surrounded by a lagoon, mobility in Murano takes place mainly on the water. The fact that water is part of the picture and atmosphere on the island and of the lagoon has inspired us. Water and Vistosi’s glasswork have strong similarities, given their traits around liquidity and light reflections.

In our virtual project, we filled the entire site with water, aiming to create a kind of large mirror through the water surface. In this aquatic mirror scenery, two buildings and trees, sitting on small islands, were placed like floating bodies. The compound of new and existing buildings is connected by a path system consisting of ramps and circular lookout points, which negatively burrow into the water landscape. The visitor is thus literally immersed in this magical waterscape, where the reflections of nature and architecture in water can be admired.

In the virtual space we worked with existing materials, such as concrete, bricks, corten steel and water - to represent a world that is as realistic as possible. It was crucial for us that the characteristics of a material, its surface texture and aging process could be felt in the virtual world.

The architecture of the new building was designed tunnel-like, so that the exhibition space can easily be extended when needed and thus always adapted to a growing collection. What would never be possible in reality suddenly becomes feasible in virtual space.

A water channel flows along the central axis of the new building, dividing the space into a left and a right side. The stair-like exhibition areas to the left and right of the water basin can be accessed by steps lying in the water.

A minimalistic spatial installation, of horizontally and vertically joining corten steel surfaces, forms the scenography for the product presentation and allows great flexibility to show the diversity and richness of the Vistosi collection.

One existing building has been integrated into the new museum complex. An existing Vistosi glass factory, which allows the visitor to dive into the art and production of glass craftsmanship. Another existing building was completely gutted while leaving the original exterior brick-shell as it was. A new core was placed inside the building, connecting different showrooms and workshop areas. The geometry of the new core is axially rotated and detached from the building envelope, creating exciting vertical views and continuums of space.

The different spaces, with their individual qualities of shape, light and texture created for this project, both outdoor and indoor, respond to the different needs and uses of the virtual experience. They create a platform to immerse oneself in the fascinating world of Vistosi.

https://vistosi.it/vistosivirtualmuseum

thanks to Vistosi , Hive Hub & Wowsolutions.it