Structures

The term can be understood as an arrangement of the inner part of a material, an object, or a system, both abstract or material based.

Glass has a unique structure compared to all the other materials, as it is highly disordered and amorphous, which results in very special properties of the material. Commonly the glass is formed from silica, SiO2, the primary constituent of sand. It becomes rigid without crystallizing and is often used for drinking glasses, vases or eyeglasses. 

Its visual aspect and tactile experience can be adjusted with various surface treatments. Hand-faceted glass was one of the first techniques DECHEM used to finish their products, e.g. Mr Flame light or Glass Village collection. Recently, the sand-blasted matte surface became a very popular feature that DECHEM combines with their best-selling Bandaska vase.

When a glass object is blown into a mould, its upper part can be cut off. However, it creates a very sharp edge which is usually refined by using the following techniques: tearing off the glass edges, grinding (creates a matt effect on the edge), or polishing (creates a glossy edge).

Apart from the surface treatment, there are many ways how to achieve an interesting structural appearance. One of them can be created by blowing the glass into a metal mold. The contact of the hot liquid glass with the cold metal material results in a wrinkled and uneven surface, DECHEM studio uses this technique to make some of their unique pieces, such as Black in Black Vases or Tetris collection.

Another glass-making technique DECHEM incorporated into their practice is fused glass: Pieces of glass are joined together at high temperatures in order to merge into a bigger piece. This process creates an interesting uneven inner structure filled with bubbles inside which DECHEM used for a wall-mounted lighting object.

Lately, DECHEM immersed in the exploration of the old glass-making techniques of lithyalin glass with a marvelous marble-like structure. This technology was developed by the Czech glassmaker Friedrich Egermann 200 years ago and DECHEM decided to revive it with its new collection of the lithyalin coffee table and the wall object.

Combining the endless palette of different structures, colours and shapes can enhance the visual impression of the emerging collections.