Maria Laura Bucciantini & Paola Bartoli
Architect and Designer
Born in the late 1980s from the meeting between architect Maria Laura Bucciantini and designer Paola Bartoli, the studio combines architecture, design, and conservation. The hallmark of their research is the continuous comparison between memory and contemporaneity: the preservation of the existing dialogues with contemporary language in a careful research on materials, proportions and light. Their activity, developed mainly between Tuscany, Versilia, Milan, and abroad, ranges from the restoration of historic buildings and the design of homes, offices, commercial spaces and gardens to industrial design (such as furniture and lamps) and the staging of exhibitions.
Maria Laura Bucciantini
Graduated in Architecture in Florence in 1984 with Remo Buti and perfected in Restoration of Monuments in 2000, she combines architectural training and passion for art with an interest in industrial design and the unique piece, enriched by experience in the family furniture company. Alongside the exhibition projects curated from the 1990s onwards and the re-edition of the Le Palle ceramics collection with Albert Leclerc, his most recent interventions include residential renovations in Versilia, the Glyptà lamp collection for OMBRE1, the construction of the Allianz offices in Agliana and the Osteria Giuda Taddeo in Pistoia.
Paola Bartoli
Having graduated in Industrial Design from the ISIA in Florence in 1988 with a thesis on curved glass (supervisor Jonathan De Pas) and perfected her skills in design at the Domus Academy in Milan, she has shared the studio's activities since 1989. Her work moves between furniture, lamps, and objects, with a particular focus on experimentation and the ability to connect elements from different eras and languages. The integration between pre-existing structures and contemporary interventions is in fact one of the recurring elements of the research developed together with Bucciantini.
Product
Glyptà
The idea behind the “Glyptà” lamp originated from a project commissioned in the first half of the 1990s to the architectural studio “Bucciantini e Bartoli”, which created a limited series of unique pieces to illuminate the monumental park of a historic villa in the Tuscan countryside. Redesigned in collaboration with OMBRE1, it incorporates versatile, energy-efficient LED technology with reduced light pollution, while preserving the original materials and sculptural proportions.
Originally made of natural iron, the lamp featured a lighting unit recessed into the ground and an upper cone made of mirrored steel, capable of reflecting a wide beam of light across lawns and pathways. Iron was chosen to blend discreetly into the historic setting. Over time, its natural oxidation created a harmonious relationship with the park and villa, enhancing their most evocative corners.
The project gave rise to “Kýklos”, “Kónos”, and “Dáda”: lamps made of painted iron, available in various colors and designed for outdoor spaces of different sizes. LED technology ensures low energy consumption and almost entirely eliminates upward light pollution. Discreet and respectful of their surroundings, the lamps are visually unobtrusive during the day and, in the evening, cast a grazing light with an adjustable beam spread. These are the key distinguishing features of the Glyptà collection.
