A mark of her work is versatility. A passionate believer in the universality of good design, Lara Bohinc made the most of the opportunities to bridge the divide between jewellery, objects and furniture. Lara Bohinc MBE studied Industrial Design at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, followed by Metalwork and Jewellery at Royal College of Art London (MA). After graduation, she won British Fashion Council’s New Generation Award and launched her own studio. She was design consultant for many luxury brands, amongst them Montblanc, Gucci and most notably Cartier, a position she held for over a decade. Bohinc’s ability to create work of everlasting beauty is rooted in her familiarity with industrial processes. While retaining a deep respect for the traditional principles of her craft, she has also drawn on her knowledge of industrial techniques, fusing modernity of style with function to achieve a contemporary elegance. The same principles apply in all of her designs – use of the finest materials, and an obsession with deconstruction and reconfiguration of pure geometric form. Overall, Bohinc’s signature style is a mix of contradictions: bold yet light, graphic yet fluid, angular yet feminine. Her first furniture piece was the Solaris Kinetic Table, made in collaboration with stone experts Lapicida for Wallpaper “Handmade” exhibition in 2014. The success of this piece resulted in two further collections of marble furniture and interior accessories. Bohinc has also collaborated with Swedish company Skultuna for a bestselling range of brass candleholders and desktop accessories. She has exhibited at London Design Festival, at Sketch Gallery and she was invited to take part in Bloomberg’s “Waste Not Want It” exhibition. Her design for “Friendship Bench” was commissioned by Kensington and Chelsea council and in 2016 she set up Bohinc Studio for the exploration of furniture and object design. Venturi Vases Collection. Lara Bohinc’s collection is inspired by her encounters with Venice. Metal frames hold Bohinc’s Murano glass vases and are reminiscent of the foundations upon which Venice was built: the metal is strong, rigid and geometric; the glass like water, being fluid, organic and irrepressible. This playful twist on the foundations of Venice is the inspiration behind this collection – a marriage of opposites is also found in the Hotel Bauer’s modern and neogothic architecture, in seamless union in spite of their different architectural movements. And like Venice, The Bauer is host to a set of dichotomies – the embodiment of contradictions and geometry with the organic – a theme that Bohinc expresses in this collection. Venturi Vases were created during Bauer Hotel artist residency with the support of Zuecca Projects foundation. Bohinc has created the Venturi Collection in ruby red, rose, sapphire and white filigrana glass, with the metal frames glazed in bronze. The process of hand blown glass forms unique, organic pieces and Bohinc oversaw their production at Murano’s artisanal workshop Massimiliano Schiavo Art Team. Each vase is handmade in Venice from Murano glass in a small artisanal workshop. All Venturi vases are unique pieces. Fortress Vases Collection. Designer Lara Bohinc explores the marriage of ancient and futuristic form in the new Fortress Vase range, which has created a more complex geometric and modern structure from the original inspiration of the octagonal towers at the Diocletian Palace in Croatia. The resulting hexagonal blocks interlock and embrace to allow the play of light and shade on the many surfaces and angles.
