Inside the World of Laguna~B: Murano, Memory, and Mealtime Rituals
As you may know by now, there’s little that brings me more joy than a colorfully set table and a reason to gather around it. Just beyond my love of tablescaping? My love of Italy. During those surreal lockdown days, when our screens were our passports, I discovered and fell hard for Laguna~B—a Venetian glassware brand full of saturated color and Italian soul.
I would daydream about visiting the shop: striped glasses stacked like candy, sunshine flickering off jewel-toned Murano glass, and me, somehow cramming six goto tumblers into my carry-on. The dream wasn’t just aesthetic—it was about a certain way of living. Joyful, irreverent, beautifully imperfect.
Fast forward a few years, and I not only made it to the store in Venice—but I got a peek inside the brand’s studio, tucked inside the Brandolini d’Adda family palazzo. It’s a creative playground where centuries-old glassmaking meets a modern point of view. Founded in 1994 by Marie Brandolini—who famously reinterpreted the humble goto de fornasa into a now-iconic object—Laguna~B is now led by her son, Marcantonio, who’s expanded the brand into a world that encompasses glass, design, sustainability, education, global community building and a singular kind of Italian cool.
What makes Laguna~B so special is the way it balances legacy with lightness. It doesn’t just preserve tradition—it plays with it, reshapes it, and sends you home with something beautiful in hand.
Not only was I lucky enough to visit the shop, but I also caught up with Marcantonio on his take on team lunches, Nutella jar glassware, electric pencil sharpeners, and the underrated genius of a good seating chart.
What’s always on the Laguna~B lunch table?
Something that we rarely miss in our communal work table are dates, we are obsessed by them. At lunch table zucchinis gives some boring component to our day which is usually not boring at all.
The communal lunch table. 
I am obsessed with this plant chandelier. What’s your signature move when hosting friends at home?
Ask the person to choose their glasses, most of them are not Laguna~B but they are from our collection of Nutella jars.
What’s an entertaining tradition you’re keeping alive (or inventing)?
Trying to make placement which is a nostalgic tradition but explaining to the person why they sit together, the reason why you thought it’s a great match, like this you avoid cringeness and you break the ice. Straight to the point.
You walk into the office on friday afternoon—what’s playing and what’s about to be poured?
The sound depends about who’s in charge of the speaker, we tend to play some playlist our friend Alba Maria made for us in those years. She names them afternoon in the lagoon. Great title. About what’s about to be poured, nothing apart from Christmas holiday party where we invent some cocktails, we tried to make a fishshot which is the equivalent of a bullshot but instead of meat broth it’s fish broth. It was disgusting nobody drank it, we ended up drinking shot of vodka. Much better.
When the rug matches the turntable. What’s your favorite piece in the Laguna-B collection past or present?
Berlingot blu extra large, great size for when you are thirsty. Which means always, we are really disciplined on drinking a lot of water.
What design elements are always on your table besides Laguna-B glassware?
Nothing famous but recently best piece of design is an electric pencil sharpener. We became 20% more creative, I think.
In what ways are you balancing Murano’s rich glassmaking traditions with contemporary innovation?
What does it mean to be contemporary through glass? Being contemporary for us it’s not about the design but it’s on the approach of anything we do in our daily work and creative life. Contemporary for us, and I think for many others, means interpret the past, be present today and look for what’s going to happen tomorrow. Glass it’s not Laguna~B passion, we inherited the material, I always say that if we would of inherit a banana company in South America we would approach it in a contemporary way, in all the aspects of the business.
What is the culture like within the Laguna~B team, and how do daily rituals, like team lunches, contribute to the creative process?
We like to walk, actually we have to do it more often. Thank you for reminding me.
Do you think color can shift the mood of a meal? How do you use it when entertaining?
I’m not a fan of associating food with an aesthetic, glasses though helps to improve the mood of the meal. Food extravaganza not in our chords. We also have a really small leaflet named take a sip in which we have a printed a sentence: don’t play with food. play with glasses.
And now, I continue along our visual tour of all things Laguna~B….
Alongside the glassware, the brand’s first store—which opened in 2023—features a free library of 200 art, photo, and culture books, all curated by their friends at Bruno, a graphic design studio down the canal.
Legacy meets evolution in glass: Marie’s 2002 Filigrana stem stands beside Marcantonio’s 2019 Berlingot Evo Jug — a family story told in glass. The daisy-like details on the Margherite are impossibly charming—subtle, sweet, and just the right amount of nostalgic. The limited-edition Saints play with inversion—flipping color ways, swapping proportions, and turning symmetry into something far more interesting.
The exterior of the store situated in the Dorsoduro district. Trust me—you’ll want to click through for the full-frame fountain moment. That tower of blue glassware is a pure dream scene.
Within walking distance of the store is the family’s palazzo that houses the Laguna~B studio, originally built in the 15th century and later acquired by the Brandolini family in the 19th century. So this isn’t just any space—it’s a centuries‑old Venetian palazzo with roots stretching back over 500 years, now reimagined as a studio, showroom, and creative hub. Needless to say it’s a stunning environment that is historically rich, but layered with modern design elements and inspiration.
It also houses the brand’s archives—sketches, prototypes and design ephemera, like these early logo studies tracing its evolution.
Within the office sits a table, brimming with a treasure trove of one-offs, prototypes, inspirational pieces and samples — like a sketchbook in three dimension.
A candy-cane-striped pole cuts through the center of the office—an unexpected sculptural moment that echoes the swirl of Laguna~B’s striped glasses. But it’s the bold red that really feels on brand: vibrant, playful, and just a little cheeky. Nearby, a “Missing from the Archive” poster hangs on the wall like a design-world wanted ad, featuring an iconic red goto lost to the sands of time, waiting to be found.
Murano color samples rested in a bright yellow ashtray—a perfect little still life in the studio. The Laguna~B team recommended the restaurant Da Arturo and it was hands down our favorite meal of the trip. It’s a small restaurant that feels a little wider than a train car with all the trappings of a great Italian meal: servers with charisma and instructions on the correct cheese to pasta ratio, great wine, delicious desserts and stellar ambiance — wood paneled walls with framed memorabilia. But most importantly all the glasses on the tables there are Laguna~B.
What I loved most about the office (aside from the glasses, naturally) was the effortless creativity in every corner—Polaroids taped to the walls, an array of books in easy reach and a conference table cleverly made from wood, sawhorses, and a pane of glass. Beneath it? Letters from friends and fans—Anna Wintour included.
Somehow, even the stock room had style.
As we walked out, I noticed the art didn’t stop at the studio door. Murano glass bars glowed from a window, and just outside the office, a vibrant glass disc caught the light—proof that at Laguna~B, the boundary between object and environment is beautifully blurred. Here, design isn’t just something you place on a table—it’s something you live inside.
Until next time, I’ll be pouring this Amaro spritz into my beloved lime goto and dreaming of getting back to Italy. xm
CANDY COLORED BLISS! 🍭