Totem, Italy

Totem is an art commission, a bespoke design positioned in the entrance of the Hotel Calimala in the Porta Venezia area of Milan, intended for visitors and passersby to experience the hotel from the street through the light and colour it expresses. Its dimensions are 40 cm wide by 40 cm deep and 220 cm tall. Totem is an exploration of light, materiality and space. Its sleek 10 mm brass frame finished in satin chrome establishes a refined balance of form and elegance, while the dichroic glass responds dynamically to its surroundings, reflecting surfaces, blending light and merging colours into a fluid, ever-changing display of illumination. The glass is composed of yellow, blue and red hues, which transform as they are exposed to light: the yellow shifts to green, the blue to purple and the red to orange. The colours of the glass change continuously throughout the day, depending on the surrounding luminosity, the position of the sun and artificial light sources such as spotlights.

Totem is part of my Spectra collection, a project born from extensive research into materials and geometry using dichroic glass. From this research, diverse objects were developed, each engaging with reflection and refraction, absorption and repulsion. Through Spectra, my ongoing ambition to create a dialogue that connects past and future, rooted in the present, is made tangible.

The environment we inhabit is influenced by countless conditions. In Totem, dichroic glass expresses these phenomena through light and time, reflection and refraction.

“I am particularly drawn to creating timeless design through simple geometry and fundamental materials. In Spectra, the dialogue between time, memory and materiality finds its expression.”