Inspirations

Costantino Nivola's sand-casting

The interior of the Olivetti showroom in New York was created at the end of the 1950s and demolished in 1969. It harmoniously blended architecture, sculpture, and design styles, while simultaneously welcoming visitors to an appealing, one-of-a-kind setting.

Studio BBPR, Olivetti showroom , New York, 1954 ©FondazioneNivola2019

Artist Costantino Nivola was one of the artists involved in the project. He created an exclusive 23-metre long mural relief, using a technique of his own invention, sand casting.

This new form of artistic expression involved moulding a negative of the design into a sandy surface and then casting it in plaster or concrete. This technique resulted in bas-reliefs with a delightfully uneven texture.

Studio BBPR, interior of the Olivetti showroom, Fifth Avenue 564, New York, 1954. Photo by Hans Namuth, ©FondazioneNivola2019

The piece was rehoused in the University of Harvard’s Science Center in 1973 and depicts a series of semi-abstract beings, inside of which small human figures greet each other extravagantly.

Nivola’s mural was one of the sources of inspiration for Glamora’s Creative Collection Chapter X. The textured design and combination of the expressiveness of sand casting and the delicacy of the plastic arts characterise designs such as Sand, Afra, Silent and Pursuit, among others. The result is a collection of wallcoverings that affirm the refined and elegant aesthetic that Glamora is known for.

Studio BBPR, showroom Olivetti, New York, 1954 ©FondazioneNivola2019

Sketch for one of the figures for the Olivetti showroom relief, 1953, sandcast, plaster, sand, tempera, 104x84, 5x6 cm, the Nivola Museum, Orani, Sardinia, Italy. — Sketch for one of the figures for the Olivetti showroom relief, 1953, sandcast, plaster, sand, tempera, 104×84, 5×6 cm, the Nivola Museum, Orani, Sardinia, Italy. ©FondazioneNivola2019

Sketch for one of the figures for the Olivetti showroom relief, 1953, sandcast, plaster, sand, tempera, 80, 2x290, 2x6 cm, the Nivola Museum, Orani, Sardinia, Italy. — Sketch for one of the figures for the Olivetti showroom relief, 1953, sandcast, plaster, sand, tempera, 80, 2×290, 2×6 cm, the Nivola Museum, Orani, Sardinia, Italy. ©FondazioneNivola2019