Tommaso Buzzi 1900–1981

Architect and designer Tommaso Buzzi was born in Sondrio and graduated in Architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. In Milan, he worked in the fields of architecture, interiors, graphic design, set design, and applied arts. In 1927, he joined the association Il Labirinto, founded to “promote the spreading of modern decorative arts in the home,” to which Paolo Venini, Giò Ponti, Carla Visconi di Modrone, Emilio Lancia and Pietro Chiesa also belonged. From 1932 to 1934, he was artistic director at Venini & C., for whom he designed a very refined series of works. They were characterized by the elegant Novecento styles in lattimo and opaque turquoise glass with black detailing and clear pieces with branch-like applications. Experimenting with traditional techniques, he also designed vessels and bowls with unusual colors. His best-known series—his Alba, Laguna, and Alga—are known for their pastel tones, which were created by using several successive thin layers of glass and then a final application of gold leaf. After World War II, Buzzi concluded his experience with glass art and dedicated himself to painting.