Venini Gio Ponti Fasce Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (12in/30cm)
$3,200
Venini Gio Ponti Fasce Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (12in/30cm)
$3,200
The interiors and architecture photographer’s spontaneity behind the camera is echoed in the floral compositions around his home.
“There’s a private sense of joy in flower arranging,” says the Lombardy-based interiors and architecture photographer, Paolo Abate. “Because ultimately it’s something you have done for yourself.”
As one of the internet’s most popular conduits to the internal moments of contemplation, intimate interactions, and fleeting gestures of spontaneity that capture everyday life in his native Italy, Abate is an expert in creating—as well as capturing—quiet mood-boosting moments. Far from snapping polished perfection or grandiose luxury, his work celebrates the extraordinary in the ordinary and all the real-life details that accompany it.
When it comes to curating the Liberty-era palazzo home he shares with his partner, Federico, on the shores of Lake Maggiore, just north of Milan, he applies the same ethos as his photography.
“The concept of a layered home is just so special because it speaks to your experiences, history and memories you combine and share within it,” he says. “There is not one object more important than another. We like having a story about every object and item in it, from our books to our art to the way we arrange flowers.”
Flowers are, above all else, a constant in the couple’s home. Surrounded by a garden that Federico, a footwear designer, has lovingly nurtured for nearly 20 years, this is a space where the indoors and outdoors are celebrated in synchronicity with seasonal foliage and flowers in constant rotation around the house bringing the outside in.
“It's not like a painting that if I have on the wall will stay the same forever—flowers completely change the mood and atmosphere of a room.”
Paolo Abate
“I love having flowers in the home as they are alive and therefore change all the time,” says Abate, as he opens the doors to ABASK to show us how he curates them around their home. “It's not like a painting that if I have on the wall will stay the same forever. Flowers completely change the mood and atmosphere of a room, and it’s beautiful to have something not static.”
While the blooms vary to reflect the season, Abate’s vases are always handcrafted glass.
“Glass vases are beautiful because you get a different point of view and shape from every angle,” he says. “It’s a constantly changing perspective on beauty and perfection that you can see throughout. I like to always give different points of view.”
Shop Venini
Gio Ponti Fasce Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (12in/30cm)
Antique and Vintage 1980s James Carpenter for Venini Calabash Glass Vase (8in/20cm)
$3,995
Antique and Vintage 1980s James Carpenter for Venini Calabash Glass Vase (8in/20cm)
$3,995
Venini Monofiore Balloton Hand-Blown Murano Glass Bud Vase (4.5in/11cm)
$425
Venini Monofiore Balloton Hand-Blown Murano Glass Bud Vase (4.5in/11cm)
$425
Venini Gio Ponti Canne Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (15.5in/40cm)
$5,505
Venini Gio Ponti Canne Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (15.5in/40cm)
$5,505
Venini Fazzoletto a Canne Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (11in/28.5cm)
$2,505
Venini Fazzoletto a Canne Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (11in/28.5cm)
$2,505
Antique and Vintage 1980s Zuccheri for Venini Bifilo Murano Glass Vase (10.5in/27cm)
$1,715
Antique and Vintage 1980s Zuccheri for Venini Bifilo Murano Glass Vase (10.5in/27cm)
$1,715
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (9.5in/24cm)
$975
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (9.5in/24cm)
$975
Antique and Vintage 1990s Alessandro Mendini for Venini Glass Vase (14in/36cm)
$3,420
Antique and Vintage 1990s Alessandro Mendini for Venini Glass Vase (14in/36cm)
$3,420
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (9.5in/24cm)
$2,090
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (9.5in/24cm)
$2,090
Antique and Vintage 1980s Venini Crystal Vase (12in/30.5cm)
$2,760
Antique and Vintage 1980s Venini Crystal Vase (12in/30.5cm)
$2,760
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (5.5in/13.5cm)
$540
Venini Fazzoletto Hand-Blown Murano Glass Vase (5.5in/13.5cm)
$540
Antique and Vintage Mid-Century Venini Murano Glass Vase (5in/13cm)
$1,265
Antique and Vintage Mid-Century Venini Murano Glass Vase (5in/13cm)
$1,265
Juxtaposing the rigidity of the glass with the impulsive shapes thrown by the stems creates an intriguing meeting of time-honed craft and uncontrollable vibrancy, says Abate, who selected bud vases by Vogel Studio, Venini’s Murano glass and Fazzoletto vases, and Martyn Thompson’s high-neck design to display around his home. “I love the beautiful contrast of it all coming together.”
The formula for colors, meanwhile, is loose to achieve a feeling of effortless spontaneity.
Shop Vogel Studio
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
Vogel Studio Hand-Blown Glass Bud Vase (5in/13cm)
$215
“By the time the composition is finished, the arrangement has its own personality.”
Paolo Abate
“I like to choose strong colors for flowers as everything in my home is very light, so it creates another layer of contrast, but I don’t think too much about combining colors. I like the idea of pulling colors I like together, and because I like them, they will start working together at some point,” he says, adding that it helps not to overthink it. “By the time the composition is finished, the arrangement has its own personality.”
In addition to moving the vases around the house to enjoy their arrangements everywhere (from bookshelves to sideboards, to sitting atop an in-progress stack of books), the couple treats the empty vessels as ornaments on their own.
“We have vases all over the house without flowers in, too, because we like the idea that they are like mini sculptures, especially glass vases that bounce light around and reflect the garden outside,” he says. “We love to play with shapes, which speaks to this beautiful spontaneity of actually living with beautiful objects—not treating them like objects in an art gallery, but really enjoying them and living with them in your home.”
Shop Martyn Thompson Studio
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (15in/38cm)
$5,525
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (15in/38cm)
$5,525
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Spotted Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13.5in/34cm)
$4,650
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Spotted Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13.5in/34cm)
$4,650
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13in/33cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13in/33cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Spotted Hand-Blown Glass Vase (12.5in/32cm)
$4,650
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Spotted Hand-Blown Glass Vase (12.5in/32cm)
$4,650
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (14in/36cm)
$5,380
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (14in/36cm)
$5,380
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (17.5in/44cm)
$5,670
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (17.5in/44cm)
$5,670
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (12.5in/32cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (12.5in/32cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (14.5in/37cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (14.5in/37cm)
$4,215
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13.5in/34cm)
$5,380
Martyn Thompson Studio Penny Swirl Hand-Blown Glass Vase (13.5in/34cm)
$5,380
“We love to play with shapes, not treating objects like they’re in an art gallery, but really enjoying them and living with them at home.”
Paolo Abate
The Flower Room
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