Lasvit, the award-winning design house renowned for its mastery of glassmaking, returns to Design Miami with “Fragment of Time,” an exhibition that explores glass as a medium for capturing fleeting moments and personal visions of the world. Featuring works by Martin Gallo, Jana Růžičková, Alessandro Mendini, and Maxim Velčovský, the presentation reveals how glass can preserve emotion, memory, and meaning within its fragile clarity.
At its center is Splash by Martin Gallo, a sculptural installation that has been touring the world for the past year and is now being shown in the US for the first time. The work freezes the moment water meets air and explores how our body is connected with the water and the effect it has on us, be it calming or energizing. For Miami, Gallo debuts Splash Mirror, which merges glass with integrated lighting that projects fluid, caustic reflections beyond the surface. The mirror becomes a source of reflection, motion, and light, designed to bring a sense of wonder into an interior.
Jana Růžičková, Lasvit’s Head of US Design, introduces Stargazer, a decorative wall object that combines metal with fragments of carefully crafted crystal. The piece suggests a personal view of the universe, reminding us that each person carries their own constellation of memories and perspectives. Růžičková treats glass as a living medium and light as her material, layering crafted textures to capture illumination and reflection.
The exhibition also includes collectible works that connect history with contemporary making. Rombo by the late Italian master Alessandro Mendini, originally part of Lasvit’s Monster series, is reimagined in uranium glass. The material emits a soft, fluorescent glow under ultraviolet light, serving as a visual reminder of Mendini’s fascination with color and the emotional life of objects. Entirely safe, the glass’s subtle radiance comes from trace minerals rather than radiation. Created in 2022 in collaboration with the Mendini estate, Rombo reflects the enduring legacy of his playful yet critical approach to design.
Maxim Velčovský debuts a new work conceived as a Guardian for the home, a godling figure made of hand-blown glass coated in metal. Known for recontextualizing everyday forms, Velčovský transforms domestic rituals into acts of protection. As Lasvit’s Artistic Director, his practice continues to guide the company’s dialogue between craft and culture, shaping glass as both material and message.
###
About Martin Gallo
Martin Gallo is a senior designer at Lasvit, where he creates striking glass and lighting installations that blend technical mastery with emotional storytelling.
Among Gallo’s most notable works is Splash, a monumental glass installation unveiled at Salone del Mobile in Milan, which captures the calming and powerful energy of water. He also authored Florescence, a poetic wall installation inspired by flowers in full bloom, and designed the Pearling Season trophy for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. His creations have also transformed landmark interiors, including the St. Regis Riyadh and St. Regis Jakarta.
Gallo’s design language is deeply rooted in the interaction between glass and light, using reflection, refraction, and optical effects to evoke feelings of awe, serenity, and joy. His work frequently draws inspiration from nature, exploring how organic forms and phenomena can uplift human emotions and well-being.
About Jana Růžičková
Jana Růžičková is the Head of Design at Lasvit USA, where she treats glass as a living medium and light as her material. Her work grows from deep material knowledge, keen observation, and decades of exploring the dialogue between glass and light.
Layering crafted details and optical textures to capture and reflect illumination, creating experiences that engage both sight and emotion. Reflection and refraction are not mere effects for her, but instruments of illusion, inviting closer study, transporting the viewer to another place, time, dimension, and awakening curiosity and wonder.
Her installations distill fleeting moments and natural phenomena into sculptural form. Nature remains an essential source of inspiration, its patterns reimagined as softened geometry and optical play. Raised in North Bohemia, Růžičková studied Art Glass Making and Product Design, then broadened her perspective through years in Southeast Asia and New York. This mix of places informs a visual language that is spare, poetic, and grounded in craft.
About Maxim Velčovský
Maxim Velčovský is an award-winning artist and designer. He works across materials, placing familiar forms in unfamiliar settings, testing what objects can say when their context shifts. Everyday things become carriers of memory, irony, and gentle critique. His work lives in museum and private collections worldwide, including Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, mudac in Lausanne, and Neue Sammlung in Munich.
Since 2011 he has served as artistic director at Lasvit, steering collaborations, installations, and products that keep glass alive as culture, not just technique. Interior Design named him Best of Year in 2020 in the category of the world’s best creative director. In 2024, his installation for Lasvit won the Milan Design Week award Fuorisalone Award.
About Alessandro Mendini
Alessandro Mendini (1931-2019) was an Italian designer, architect, editor, and essayist who played an important part in the development of Italian design during the second part of the 20th century. Aside from his artistic career, he worked and wrote for Casabella, Modo, and Domus magazines. In the 1970s, he was one of the main personalities of the Radical Design movement.
Alessandro Mendini changed the landscape of modern design through his quintessential works of postmodernism. Through his involvement with Studio Alchimia, Mendini drove the concept of Banal Design, exploring an assertively kitsch and whimsy style as an effective way for disrupting notions of value, function, taste, and style to encourage individual thinking
About Lasvit
Lasvit is a pioneering design house that designs and crafts crystal and lighting experiences. The company marries the rich heritage of Bohemian glassmaking with cutting-edge modern design to create installations that inspire awe and elevate spaces worldwide. Lasvit’s creations blend art and functionality, resulting in bespoke site-specific installations in some of the world’s most iconic landmarks, cultural institutions, hotels, and private residences.
With 12 ateliers across the globe, Lasvit offers localized expertise while drawing on a global network of talent. Its personalized approach ensures each project is tailored to the unique vision and needs of its clients, whether it’s an architectural glass installation, an exquisite lighting sculpture, or a signature design collection.
Lasvit’s bold, unformulaic approach has earned it the highest accolades, including the prestigious Milan Design Week Award, in 2018 and again in 2024. Over the years, the brand has collaborated with visionary designers such as the Campana Brothers, Kengo Kuma, Zaha Hadid, Nendo, and Ross Lovegrove, bringing to life extraordinary collections that push the boundaries of artistry and craftsmanship.
Lasvit continues to redefine the relationship between space, light, and art, creating sublime experiences that touch the soul and stir the imagination.