IDEA COMES TO LIFE IN GLASS
Vitrum Vivum is our secret recipe. The unique glassmaking technology can bring any idea to life and create an exquisite piece of art. We are alchemists. We embrace the technical aspects of glass while seeking its distinctive character. We are open to bold experiments and committed to impeccable craftsmanship. We welcome artists and architects working in and beyond the field of glass who are intrigued by its limitless plasticity. We will breathe soul into glass together.
Currently, Jiří Šín and his team are building a studio with gallery spaces in the Central Bohemia region to present the technology to the public. The studio’s centerpiece will be the world’s largest glass casting furnace with revolutionary autonomous cooling.
Vitrum Vivum
Invented by Jiří Šín, the unique technology is based on a groundbreaking method of cast glass production. It employs the revolutionary process of pouring hot glass into a closed mold enabling the creation of a faithful cast of any object.
During his studies in Kamenický Šenov, Jiří Šín faced the limitations of the production technologies in the field of glass sculpture available at the time. He would not accept these limitations preventing artists from free creative expression as fact and built his own furnace to explore and push the limits of glass production. He went on to set up a workshop in the Czech borderlands where he built large furnaces and spent twelve years recreating and enhancing established methods. Eventually, he developed a groundbreaking glassmaking technology which allows artists to bring all their creative ideas to life.
This is an essential shift in the field of cast glass sculpture, perfected and promoted by Professor Stanislav Libenský in the early days. The new technology invented by Jiří Šín takes the craft of glassmaking to the next level, making it possible to create three-dimensional glass sculptures with a realistic structure yet without any limitations in size and shape for the first time in history.
2D standard glass casting technology
3D Vitrum Vivum glass casting technology
- necessary surface in the mold, one side of the object remains flat
- casting into an open mold
- production is limited by stacking glass rods in the mold, the object must be finally glued together or composed of several parts, cut or polished
3D Vitrum Vivum glass casting technology
- absence of surface in the mold
- casting into a closed mold, molten glass flows in through channels like bronze
- able to create three-dimensional objects with complex realistic structures or very complicated shapes
- one-piece object
- use in the fields of fine arts, applied arts, design and architecture