Šaldovo náměstí | Plissé Plisování | Studio Umyo, Baptista Vandaele, Preciosa Ornela

Art in the streets of Liberec returns to glass boxes!

At Šaldovo Square, the first box awaits you with the installation Plissé Plisování, created for Crystal Valley Week. The installation represents a convergence where the centuries-old tradition of Czech glassmaking meets a refined French sense of geometry, ornamentation, and visual rhythm. The project, created in collaboration between glass artist Eva Nováková (Studio Umyo) and Parisian designer Baptiste Vandaele with the generous support of Preciosa Ornela, transforms tradition into a fresh, contemporary experience.

The title of the installation pays tribute to the Liberec Region, historically one of the most important centers of glass and textile production in Central Europe. It was once the heat of the furnaces and the movement of the looms that shaped the identity of this city. Today, this dual heritage is reinterpreted through glass—the delicate folds of pleated fabric (plissé) are transformed into sculptural glass surfaces that play with light and form.

At the heart of the installation is a sculptural screen and a pair of coffee tables—collector’s items straddling the line between furniture, artwork, and architecture. The objects were created using kiln-casting technology, in which glass rods are melted into custom plaster molds, resulting in tactile reliefs rich in depth, reflections, and shadows. Here, matte edges meet polished transparency, giving each piece a shifting visual character.

The installation is made of Liba 96 glass, a new glass series developed by Preciosa Ornela. Thanks to its COE96 compatibility, multiple colors can be seamlessly fused, opening up new possibilities for contemporary glass design. Layers of violet or topaz colors, combined with UV-reactive glass, give the objects a shifting identity. While they appear as elegant interior accessories during the day, at night they transform into glowing sculptural forms under ultraviolet light.

This collaboration brings together two distinct creative perspectives. Baptiste Vandaele approaches motifs and ornaments as a living visual language and, through repetition, symmetry, and modular systems, creates expressive compositions full of movement and rhythm. Eva Nováková brings her material expertise and sculptural vision; she explores glass beyond decoration as a medium for spatial experience, emotion, and architecture.

The exhibition “Plissé Plisování” celebrates glass not only as a material of historical heritage but as a medium of new possibilities. It shows how traditional craftsmanship can evolve, how ornament can regain its relevance, and how contemporary design can connect the past with the future through color, light, and form.