Philippe Starck Compression prototype dining table by Glas Italia, 2024

A glass, wood, and brass dining table or desk - Italian manufacture, Glas Italia prototype with certification, designed by Philippe Starck

Designing a table like this is no simple feat. Taming the character of a material as fragile and temperamental as glass requires the convergence of two exceptional forces. This glass table stands as the intersection of Glas Italia's century-old Milanese craftsmanship and the visionary design talents of Philippe Starck. Renowned for the seductive transparency of his creations, Starck transforms furniture into ethereal presences, hovering on the boundary between reality and dream.

What is Starck’s dream table? It draws inspiration from the most classic and ancient piece of furniture in human civilization: the fratino table. With its straightforward, intuitive construction, this type of table is a common thread across diverse cultures. Here, the table’s support system is reimagined with two inclined glass legs, connected by a horizontally placed, dark-stained wooden beam. The structure’s stability is ingeniously ensured by two wooden wedges that create tension throughout, rendering it solid and perfectly rigid.

Reinterpreting such an archetypal table in a contemporary context is a bold challenge, one that requires the ability to honor tradition while imbuing it with new meaning. Starck rises to this challenge brilliantly. Observing the table he designed, we note how its perfect proportions, balanced against the thickness of the glass, lend it a sense of volumetric presence. Yet, this presence is softened by the transparency of the material. Beneath the tabletop, the stabilizing beam is crafted from wood—why wood? More than a mere nod to the classical woodworking tradition, it represents a conscious acknowledgment of an enduring heritage in furniture design, with its recurring cycles of innovation and homage.

In this creation, natural materials and human-crafted crystal meet, while brass inserts celebrate this union with their golden hue, evoking a sense of preciousness. The result is a refined, non-conventional piece of furniture with a strong expressive personality.

This particular piece is the prototype of the table that later entered production. The differences lie in slightly altered dimensions of the tabletop and the use of brushed steel details in the production model, whereas this prototype features brass. A certificate of uniqueness issued by Glas Italia accompanies the table, underscoring its singularity.

Dimensions: 220w x 80d x 74h cm