Milan 2016: Brazilian duo Humberto and Fernando Campana have used coloured glass to fill blob-shaped gaps in this wooden cabinet for Spanish brand BD Barcelona Design.
The Campana brothers chose the coloured glass to give the impression of a fish tank. "We were inspired by the idea of an aquarium to create this piece," said Fernando Campana.
The cuboid Aquário buffet is built from either ash or pine wood, with irregularly shaped holes cut into its surfaces. These openings are sealed by sections of the glass, allowing views through the furniture piece.
"We love to create hybrids using two different materials; a warm one and a cold one," said Humberto Campana. "It has become part of our design language."
Transparent shelves are installed behind the four square cabinet doors to help allow light through.
"I wanted to play with the idea of opposite weights too; the lightness of the glass and the massiveness of the wood," Humberto Campana added. "The immaterialness of the first one and the physicalness of the second one."
Four angled wooden legs raise the main horizontal volume off the floor. Two different colour versions will be available.
The brothers set up their São Paulo studio in 1983, and are well known for repurposing common materials in unusual ways to create furniture, installations and interiors. Among their most famous pieces is the Vermelha Chair comprising almost 500 metres of rope, while more recent projects include furniture covered in doormats and an armchair made out of furry eyes.
BD Barcelona Design will present the Aquário cabinet, along with new pieces by Jaime Hayón, Oscar Tusquets, Färg & Blanche and more, at this year's Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan.
The fair takes place from 12 to 17 April 2016, and will also see the launch of a bent-wood rocking horse by Front, leaning marble side tables by Nendo and a collection of "boring" office furniture by Lensvelt.
Glass furniture was a big trend at last year's Milan design week, where designers including Patricia Urquiola, Tokujin Yoshioka, and Barber and Osgerby all presented transparent products.