Infinity bench martino gamper tumblers

Italian born designer Martino Gamper (1971-) lives and works in London.

Brought to life by Italian designer Enzo Mari, it aims to produce superior quality, functional furniture with materials in one’s own house. Taken from the press release.

At this year’s London Design Festival, UK-based Italian designer Martino Gamper teamed up with American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) to create an imaginative but very functional six meter long hardwood ‘Infinity Bench’.

The bench features a sophisticated patchwork pattern that is made up of American red oak, soft maple, ash, yellow birch and tulipwood.

L. Lobmeyr commissioned Gamper to create the "NEO" series of tumblers with contemporary ornament. Gamper’s interest in this concept led him to create the ‘Infinity Bench’, which celebrates colour, texture and shape through the use of different hardwood species.

Martino Gamper said: “I used the autoprogettazione concept as a starting point for my design and to keep the planks as simple as possible.

The one-off prototypes are signed and sold as one group of 53 glasses. The project is part of the Vienna Design Week 2016 “Passionswege” project. Gamper stated, “I wanted to take on the challenge of creating a contemporary ornament using the traditional Lobmeyr-techniques”. The bench was displayed at the John Madejski Gardens at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

The ‘Infinity Bench’ is inspired by the Italian concept of autoprogettazione (translated as self‐made).

Known for his curiosity and his radical sense for experimentation he transformed a very simple Double old
fashioned whiskey tumbler by cutting, engraving, polishing, sand-blasting, hand-painting, gilding, and lustre painting. Starting as an apprentice with a furniture maker in Merano, Gamper went on to study sculpture under Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.

All single items will be produced on order. Gamper was the recipient of the Moroso Award for Contemporary Art in 2011, and the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, Furniture Award in 2008 for his project ‘A 100 Chairs in 100 days’.

J. He completed a Masters in 2000 from the Royal College of Art, London, where he studied under Ron Arad.

Working across design and art venues, Martino Gamper engages in a variety of projects from exhibition design, interior design, one-off commissions and the design of mass-produced products for the cutting edge of the international furniture industry.