The Mendini Collection of glass blocks by Italian manufacturer Seves is a panoply of kaleidoscopic brilliance… a wall of iridescent, chromatic potentiality… a veritable assemblage of technicolor color in shades as daring as Corallo Pink, as staid as Taupe Agata, as downright sexy as the operatic Rubino Red.

Mendini Collection. Designed by Atelier Mendini for Seves Glassblock.

Florence-based Seves controls nearly a congressional majority (not quite, but 36% aint bad) of global glass block production and distribution: “with nine different colours, a neutral line, and 200 different glass designs, Seves glassblock has a 40% share (in terms of value) of the world glass block market.” This hemispherical domination was accomplished by unifying several of the world’s most renowned manufacturers–including Vetroarredo, Solaris, Vitrablok, Vidromatone, and Sindoco–into Seves Glassblock, an entity with a rather ambitious party line: “to maximize the potential of glass blocks by transforming them from a marginal, traditional construction element into an artistic expression of light and space.”

Mendini achieves said aim and more. Inspired by the dizzying array of color and light one finds in nature, the collection aims to bring the splendor of artistic elements once reserved for palazzos and cathedrals (think huge hundred-colored panels of 16th. century Gothic splendor) into the residential market. The line features 16 colors in varying degrees of transparency courtesy of Seves’ “Pegasus Winged” glass block technology, a metalized finishing technique that produces tremendously smooth, richly colored blocks whose vibrancy will withstand the ravages of time and sun exposure.

Seves anticipates that Mendini will create a new lexicon among glass blocks, one articulating sentiments as laden as sensuality, conceptuality, symbolism, and hedonism. If a 19 x 19 x 8 (cm) cube of glass can be said to convey emotions, Mendini does so indeed: “endless chessboards of variants, from single colours up to kaleidoscopic effects… opens up new poetic horizons that are truly fascinating.”

Via interiordesign.net.