A signed Venini "Poliedri" chandelier with glass diffusers, Italy, 1950s

A suspended chandelier composed of blown-glass diffusers, model “Poliedri,” design by Carlo Scarpa for Venini, Italy, 1960s.

Through his work, Carlo Scarpa was able to create a language that rigorously and precisely defined the very essence of beauty. Harmony, balance, and forms capable of conveying a universally shared meaning are the hallmarks of Scarpa’s architecture. His intense activity in museum design—particularly within historic and monumental contexts—shows how his practice consistently engaged in dialogue between construction and preservation of the past. A multifaceted and exuberant personality, Scarpa also devoted much of his career to interior design.

Of particular note is his fruitful collaboration, begun in the 1950s, with the Venini glassworks in Murano. Some of Scarpa’s finest creations date from this period: lighting designs that embody the perfect encounter between the immateriality of light and the material richness of glass.

The suspension chandelier presented here, known as the “Poliedri,” is the synthesis of this approach. A constellation of blown-glass pendants with delicately irregular surfaces is arranged in multiple tiers, suspended from a chrome-plated metal frame. Once lit, each element refracts the light, decomposing it into beams with unexpected trajectories—the inner reflection of the polyhedra. This same modular construction was also employed for the monumental cascading chandelier created for the Expo in Turin as part of Italia ’61.

Dimensions: diameter 45 cm, height 65 cm (17.7 in x 25.6 in).

Power Source: Hardwired
Voltage: 220-240v
Lampshade: Included