Peter Marino is crazy about chartreuse. The architect admitted as much Thursday morning at the Museum of Arts and Design, where he and Venini unveiled their collaboration: a limited-edition collection of vases.
Called “Black Belt,” the vessels come in four shapes — oval, square, triangular and figure-eight — in a range of sizes. “[I’m] very interested in tabletop,” Marino said at a press conference. “What frustrates me is florists who put everything at the same size on the table. I like it when there’s mountains and valleys.”
The vases come in clear, pink, chartreuse and amber, and each is wrapped with opaque black bands. There will be 349 pieces per color and size.
“The aesthetic is meant to be flowers that rise and drop,” Marino continued. “It is much prettier and less static and more natural.…The (figure-eight) was me being really loose and romantic because they’re kind of floppy and the flowers can drop out of two sides.”
The vases were made using Venini’s Murano glass-making techniques, incorporating the “asbruffo” (puffed) and “sommerso” (submerged) processes. The black bands wrapped around each vase were created by pulling and laying them hot on top of the glass. They reference Marino’s signature look. A leather lover, he’s often photographed in all-black leather ensembles complete with a policeman’s cap.
“I know you’re all absolutely wondering where I got the name ‘Black Belt’ from,” Marino said, gesturing toward the black leather straps crisscrossed across his chest. “It just occurred to me one day.”
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