Assembly Line Presents ‘Asking For A Friend,’ A Limited-Edition Vase Collection By Sophie Lou Jacobsen

Sophie Lou Jacobsen, the award-winning French-American designer dedicated to making everyday objects primarily made out of multicolored borosilicate glass, is pleased to launch ‘Asking For A Friend,’ a limited-edition vase collection that blends old world sophistication with modern utility. Available in conjunction with NYCxDESIGN, the collection will be sold exclusively at Brooklyn’s Assembly Line starting May 15, 2022.
While keeping in line with Jacobsen’s signature use of playful forms, the collection represents a new, more multifaceted direction for the brand, featuring thoughtful vase designs available in a mix of both colorful and clear glass that are equally captivating as they are functional.

The collection is the result of existential interrogations Jacobsen had been grappling with during the dark months of Winter 2022, including What are the physical properties of joy? How can an inanimate object express optimism? Why do flowers make us feel happy? And why are certain forms repeated throughout history, across various centuries and cultures, over and over again?

“As a designer who is interested in exploring daily objects that have the innate ability to delight and surprise, these are the questions that I asked myself as I explored worthy motifs and concepts for our modern times,” says Jacobsen.

Borrowing design language from traditional venetian glassware to ancient Greek vessels – including the “Amphora”, a two-handled vessel with a neck narrower than the body, valued for both its utilitarian and aesthetic considerations – the collection aims to stimulate memories and the lessons of history, while highlighting the success of such familiar and iconic shapes that have stood the test of time.

“As modern events continue to provide uncertainties, the collection investigates sensorial tools of communication and the power that art and beauty can have on our psychological and neurological well-being,” says Jacobsen. “The collection is a celebration of renewal, and the rebirth of spring during which the natural world revives and reinvigorates after the colder winter months.”

In bringing Jacobsen’s design vision to life, Jacobsen teamed up with frequent collaborator and master glassblower Adam Holtzinger of Keep Brooklyn who uses traditional, handmade Italian techniques to create world class objects.

The collection will be for sale exclusively at Assembly Line, the newly-opened Boerum Hill store focused on home renovation and improvement. Founded by Sarah Zames and Colin Stief of interior design studio General Assembly, Assembly Line is located a short distance from both Keep Brooklyn and Jacobsen’s respective studios. To accompany the vases, Jacobsen has created site-specific painted backdrops displayed within Assembly Line that usher in a sense of spring optimism.

“I am so grateful that the vases have found a perfect home at Assembly Line, a beautiful and well-curated storefront that champions accessibility to great design while welcoming in all,” says Jacobsen.

To learn more about Sophie Lou Jacobsen, kindly visit www.sophieloujacobsen.com and follow @sophieloujacobsen on Instagram.

For press inquiries, please contact Ali Moran at [email protected].

Portrait copyright Jen Steele

Learn more at https://www.assemblyline.co/sophieloujacobsen.