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I aim to envision contemporary objects
of natural aesthetic, exciting details and sensuous simplicity, to elevate your holistic everyday.
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ABOUT
Milena´s work is based on her natural sensibility for atmosphere and space, a great sense for high quality contemporary craft and new design processes for traditional artisanship. Combined with her approach for holistic, thoughtful and sustainable craftsmanship and life.
Founded in 2012, Berlin based Milena Kling successfully established her material driven Studio for contemporary glass work and envisions bespoke design concepts for thoughtfully artisan crafted glass and finest table culture.
With an intuitive understanding for traditional artisanship and tactile material transformations, she develops her bespoke products, installations and objects for a growing number of collectors, private clients, fine dining restaurants and architectural projects.
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With her filigree details Kling belongs to ADs selection of the
50 best Designers Germany
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Best Of Germany | AD
FEVERISHLY EXPERIMENTAL
by Rachel Miller
Berlin-based Milena Kling grounds her warmly paletted glasswork in the alchemy of natural phenomena. Metamorphosed from copper filigree molds and pleated copper sheets interacting with mouth-blown glass, her feverishly experimental breathtakingly unique vases and assorted objects transmute metal into treasure that blazes with raw textures and artisanal panache.
Born in Berlin, Kling studied Architecture, Product & Process Design at the University of Arts, Berlin, graduating in 2012. Her thesis work, “THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE,” includes the first iterations of her Raw and Ruby glass collections. The project was nominated for both Modern Craft of the Year and German Design Award and showcased in several group and solo exhibitions. Her experimental designs are included in the permanent collection "Neue Sammlung" at Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne.
Amid and after her studies, Kling extended the breadth of her craft in a variety of high-profile international work experiences: contributing product and graphic design for Tokyo’s Nosigner (2009-2010); conceiving interiors and large-scale installations at Tom Dixon’s Design Research Studio in London (2011); and working as both designer and project manager for Berlin artist Sarah Illenberger (2011-2018). This last partnership, with Illenberger, has proved a major platform for Kling’s burgeoning talent, leading to installation projects for renowned brands like Hermés, The New York Times, AD, Vogue, and Zeit Magazin, among others.
Since 2012, Kling has maintained her eponymous studio in Berlin, where she continues her material- and chemistry-driven bespoke contemporary glasswork. Outside of “THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE,” her standout collections include RAW (2012), an ongoing update of her explorations into highly delicate copper-molded vases; and CIRCLE (2015), which features stunning water glasses, distinctly shaped and engraved by their manufacture in finely pleated copper sheets. Her muted SEAGLASS collection (2020) and her new adventures into holistic and sustainable glass manufacturing.
In each year of her activity, Kling has been invited to participate in international exhibitions. A selection of salient showcases includes, among others, London Design Week, IMM Cologne, Beijing Design Week, Milan Design Week, Los Angeles’s Dwell on Design, Pinakothek Der Moderne’s Die Neue Sammlung in Munich (Permanent Collection); Design Beijing and Maison et Objet Paris.
Her bespoke handcrafted tableware is shown at finest restaurants in the world, including renowned 3* Maaemo, Norway.
