Guillaume Saalburg French glassworker and engraver

Education

He trained in a glass engraver’s workshop.

Biography

He worked as an architect and designer for business and domestic clients, collaborated with Philippe Starck, Jean-Michel Wilmotte, Gilles Derain, Richard Moyer, and Andree Putman: and participated in the design of the hall of the TV company Canal Plus. In 1987, he established his firm Opaque Diffusion to produce tabletop objects and glass furniture.

Saalburg has given new life to stained glass windows in churches that have been converted into local cultural centres; he designed a glass staircase for Hermès and worked on the Yves Saint Laurent boutique in Paris, the LVMH tower in New York, as well as a host of private homes and apartments.

Glass Designs

His work, which also encompasses objects, offices, furniture and building facades, has changed the role glass plays in architectural projects. In his own words, he opens up “new possibilities” for the material. At his company Techniques Transparentes, specialise in “unusual, complex projects,” which he oversees from start to finish. “Glass, which has become very prevalent over the last 20 years, is tied to humans’ essential need for light. Guillaume views Glass appealing as an element because it enables people to connect visually with the exterior. Glass can also use multiple forms and filters to create a dreamy quality in spaces as long as it’s used in a complementary fashion with other materials and elements.

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Exhibitions

He showed work at Institut francais d’Architecture in 1987 and VIA in 1989; he showed a double glass wall filled with transparent marbles ( with Ronald-Cecil Sportes) at the 1983 Salon of Societe des Artistes Decorateurs. His work was shown at the 1989 ‘Le Verre grandeur nature’ exhibition, Pare Floral, Vincennes, and 1990 ‘Les Annees VIA 1980-1990,’ Musee des Arts Decoratifs.