When the stars of the British music scene get up on the stage of the annual BRIT awards ceremony, they will get a trophy which was made in the fires of a Northern Bohemian glassworks. The statues in the shape of a woman were designed by the famous British-Ghanian architect Sir David Adjaye, but they saw the light of day for the first time in the glassworks in Desná near the Czech borders.
The complex process of creation had started months ago. It began with a wooden mould made of Northern Bohemia’s trees, and ended with molten glass being poured into the form of Britannia, the female personification of Britain.
“Creating the 2019 BRIT Award Trophy was a challenging, yet inspiring journey. All those experiments in the glassworks, the fine-tuning of the color, and discussing the outcome with Sir David Adjaye – all this led to the making of a unique glass trophy which we are really proud of. I believe that this trophy is also a messenger of the Bohemian spirit, of freedom and of beauty,” says Roman Žákovský, Managing Director of LASVIT.
Sir David Adjaye swapped the traditional hourglass form for a figure with “unique” proportions. “For me, designing the award was an opportunity to question and explore – what is the nature of perfection and imperfection, what is the notion of beauty?” says Sir David Adjaye on the official website of the BRIT awards.
The bubbles inside the glass are a symbol for the questioning of perfection and imperfection. There is a little trick to make such bubbles: the glassmakers simply add a potato into the molten glass. The water in it quickly starts to react and creates the capsules in the molten glass. It is a traditional technique which has been used in glassworks for centuries.
“BRIT winners of the night will take home a truly stunning piece of work that’s totally unique to them, with each award carrying its own individual and distinctive imperfections,” Sir David Adjaye adds.
The annual music awards take place on Wednesday February 20, at The O2 arena in London.
