BOMMA introduces the Fragmentglass, an innovative new material utilising waste shards upcycled from BOMMA’s previous production.
BOMMA’s lighting undergoes strict quality control. Pieces with imperfections inevitably end up as glass shards, despite the many hours glassmakers spent creating them. However, glass is a material that can be remelted and repurposed.
This unconventional process inspired the designers from DECHEM Studio to create the material Fragmentglass, which upcycles waste shards and breathes new life into them.
Michaela Tomišková and Jakub Janďourek, designers from DECHEM Studio, have extensive experience in producing this material. However, the shortage of quality shards and their need to create a new glass material naturally led to collaboration with the BOMMA glassworks.
“The development of individual colors of the panels was a complex and lengthy process, where you continuously observe and evaluate how the pattern and structure of the shards arranged in the glass furnace will turn out after melting. After many trials, we have come up with three colors that can be beautifully combined, yet each is visually strong on its own.”
The glassmaking batch is a mixture of silica sand, minerals, and raw materials that, when heated to high temperatures, transform into transparent crystal beauty. Each glassworks has its unique blend, reflecting its tradition and craftsmanship, producing distinctive glass products. Within its grains lies the potential for endless purity and shapes
Once considered waste, colored shards now await a new purpose. These fragments, from rejected light fixtures that didn’t meet BOMMA’s exacting standards, cannot be reused like clear glass. Yet, we’ve found a way to give them new life.
Each Fragmentglass panel is carefully assembled by stacking glass shards into a melting mold following DECHEM Studio’s precise recipe. The final result of each Fragmentglass plates is always carries an element of surprise as the melting process itself cannot be controlled.
Elements such as bubbles or bits of iron, which would otherwise depreciate premium glass production, enliven the texture during the melting process in the furnace. In this case, these are aesthetically desirable details, making each panel a unique original.
The surface of Fragmentglass is beautifully smooth and naturally glossy, resembling a water surface. The underside of the panel shows a rougher texture that candidly reflects the intricacies of its production technology.
Flamingo mint
Black
White
BOMMA uses this innovative material in the new Fragments lighting collection, which fully illustrates its potential. Each piece is designed so that its simple shapes draw attention to the unique patterns of the glass material. The shapes resemble gemstones formed under pressure beneath the Earth’s surface, revealing their inner beauty. In line with BOMMA Constellations’ design principles, the Fragments collection also allows creative grouping of elements according to the available space. The new collection embodies BOMMA’s signature combination of innovation, craftsmanship, technology, and bold design.
Download Fragmentglass presentation here and learn more about this upcycled material.
