The Jewel Metaphors by Giulia Barela

The four rings selected by the Association for Industrial Design (ADI) and then included in the ADI Design Index 2020, among the best industrial design projects that the Roman designer Giulia Barela has created to be worn in pairs or individually, are called Metaphors. The combination is freely modifiable, even in the matching of color, gold and black. Metafore is part of a project that aims to overcome the boundary between sculpture and jewelry, merging art and design, giving life to 'wearable sculptures' that give the object a functionality connected to the sphere of the body. Inspired by contemporary art, these jewels represent a hybrid between traditional craft techniques and 3D experimentation. Made starting from lost wax casting, they then move on to 3D printing so that the reproduction is developed and optimized to the fullest. Composed of 13 models including rings, bracelets, necklaces and modular earrings, the Metafore collection evokes a primordial alphabet made of universal geometries: eggs, drops and ellipses that play with fluid and interactive realms, trapped between pearls and a playful balance of full and empty. The shapes are inspired by the sculpture of the first half of the twentieth century, including the works of Brancusi, Jean Hans Arp, Henri Moore and Hepworth, but each object, while freely inspired by these sculptors, fully expresses the vision and identity of the designer. Made of 24kt gold-plated bronze and silver, they are characterized by smooth surfaces and large volumes hollowed out inside, giving a tactile and anatomical sense to those who observe and wear them. Giulia Barela launched her first collection in 2012 and has already exhibited at the MAD-Museum of Art and Design in New York. This year, on the occasion of the presentation of the ADI Index, she was also awarded the Design Excellence Award in Lazio. Today, almost ten years after the first launch, Giulia Barela's jewels are in over 20 boutiques around the world, in addition to the Gflagship store in the heart of her city, Rome, inaugurated in 2019. A unique place where jewelery, art and design, also thanks to that Salento artistic influence so dear to the designer.