Light, wood, steel, glass. In collaboration with Maurizio Lai Architects and Poliform, Aggio oversaw the prototyping and development of a series of luminous walls and columns that define Milan’s IYO Restaurant, creating a distinctive, iconic atmosphere.
IYO Restaurant
overview
A Cathedral of Light.
Building on the architectural studio’s concept, we reinterpreted the drawings into a more mechanical form, proposing a series of blown-glass treatments and selecting with the client a special bubble finish, particularly suited to enhancing the light.
The Challenge
Sometimes there is no instruction manual – that’s when experience and ingenuity really matter.
A one-of-a-kind project like IYO Restaurant brings with it unique complexities. Here, the decisive challenge was the irregularity of the glass – a critical aspect that we mastered creatively through innovative approaches and customized solutions.
- Glass Blowing
We achieved zero-tolerance precision on exceptionally tall glass elements with significant cross-sections – a unique feat in the sector. - Uniform Bubbles
During glass blowing, spherical bubbles typically elongate as the process progresses. Achieving a consistent, uniform distribution demanded meticulous fine-tuning. - Uniform Lighting
The LED optical beam initially focused primarily on the front half of the glass. Through multiple tests, we managed to achieve perfectly even illumination. - Concealed Wiring
To keep the cables out of sight, we cut each one to measure and routed them along the upper profile, which extends down the vertical support.
The Solution
Meticulous Attention to Detail for an Iconic Milanese Dining Space
Given the unpredictable nature of the materials used – particularly the blown glass – the Aggio team faced numerous technical and design challenges to achieve a result worthy of this project.
The bubble finish we proposed was difficult to implement but proved highly successful in terms of visual impact. The play of light across the blown-glass columns creates an ethereal, distinctive atmosphere within the restaurant, perfectly suited to represent Italy’s only Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant.
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