Noor Springael fell into this career almost by accident. She has a degree in conservation and restoration of stained glass. Her parents were highly doubtful about her decision to join the creative industry and even she was unsure about which material she wanted to master: “In the town where I grew up there’s a big glass factory, so someone suggested I pick glass – and so I did.” After graduating she worked at a studio where she did more paperwork than handiwork. In 2017, Noor opened her own workshop in her garden where she creates bespoke stained glass windows and decorative objects that are inspired by nature and geometry. Her wish is to add colour to people's lives. She makes bespoke pieces for clients, and has also started her own online shop on Etsy where she shares her creativity. In 2023, Noor published a book called Creative Stained Glass: 17 step-by-step projects for stunning glass art and gifts.

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In this example of the wildflowers collection, poppy seed heads have been made out of recycled glass from larger projects. The technique used is traditionally hand painted glass using the copper foil technique.

Poppy seed heads

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The wildflowers collection is made based on sustainability as the petals are made from recycled glass or leftover glass from larger projects. Each colour has a symbolism behind it; for example lavender is known for purity and grace. The technique used is traditionally hand painted glass using the copper foil technique.

Wild flower bouquet

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The Hexagon mirrors are made out of wood, mirror and coloured glass. Each and every mirror is made to order from the customer's specifications of colour, translucency and size.

Hexagon mirror

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Delicate red poppies form part of the wildflowers collection, which is based on sustainability as the petals are made from leftover glass from larger projects. The technique used is traditionally hand painted glass using the copper foil technique.

Red Poppies

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The Creative Academy is the international postgraduate school set up by Richemont in 2003 with the mission of training talented students in jewellery, watches and accessories design with a strong focus on fine craftsmanship. Every year the Creative Academy welcomes 20 young international design graduates to follow its Master of Arts in Design and Applied Arts. The programme seeks to train the next generation of young future professionals, equipping them with the tools they need to respond to the constantly evolving demands of the luxury sector by linking theory and professional practice. Students are trained through field projects, specialised seminars and constant interaction with Richemont Maisons. The school challenges students to innovate while upholding the strong sense of tradition and uniqueness that defines each of the Maisons. One of the student's field projects is to act as "artisan hunters" for the Homo Faber Guide, sourcing and interviewing artisans from their home countries.

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Katrien Mestdagh is a stained glass artisan who also holds a master’s in stained glass conservation and heritage management. She represents the third generation of Atelier Mestdagh, which was founded in 1947 by her grandfather Albert, who had trained in one of the most important Neo-Gothic workshops in Ghent. After Albert passed away in 1972, his son Luc took over the business, preserving the same techniques and knowledge that his father and his master craftsmen had taught him. Luc’s wife Ingrid Meyvaert, who specialises in designing stained glass windows, was always at his side. Thanks to her, the workshop started to use stained glass in modern architecture, thus matching traditional craftsmanship with contemporary innovation.

Mestdagh, Katrien

Stained glass for the modern world

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Originally choosing a life in ceramics in his native Yorkshire, James Lethbridge soon grew dissatisfied and turned to glass. In 2007 he graduated with a master's degree in Glass & Ceramics from the RCA in London. “I am primarily self-taught through persistence, trial and error, and stealing skills with my eyes,” he says. Now based in Antwerpen, James makes vessels, sculptures and chandeliers with the flameworking technique he has developed and innovated. In working with glass, “you understand that you can bend the material to your will, to such an extent that you can express your designs and concepts”. In his case, designs and concepts are a surrealist natural world, with microscopic pollen, twisting vines and unseen vortexes, the infinite complexity of life.

Lethbridge, James

Catharsis through glass sculpture

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American-born Carol Youngner first studied sociology and worked for various social programmes around the world, including Peace Corps in Africa. At first, ceramics was just a hobby, but she decided to make it her profession after moving to Belgium. In 1989, she started to work as a potter in her studio at Waterloo, in the countryside just outside of Brussels. “I did a one-year apprenticeship to improve my wheel technique, but I am mostly self-taught,” says Carol. About 15 years ago, she decided to broaden her horizon and took up classes in glass sculpting. “I now like to combine these two materials, clay and glass, to create unique sculptures.” Carol derives inspiration from the landscapes around her home, like vineyards and farm fields, and from the relationships between people.

Youngner, Carol

The art of matching glass and clay

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Francine Delmotte specialises in the technique of pâte de verre (literally “glass paste”), which is an ancient casting technique that has been used since Egyptian times. The glass is ground into a fine powder, to which a binder is added to create a paste that is introduced into a mould and fused by firing. After annealing, the object is finished by cold working processes. “What I do is not a job but the pursuit of the pleasure of creating,” explains Francine. “I shape objects in glass paste with translucent walls. To this I add a choice of shapes and colours that play with light, whether natural or artificial. I accept a few cracks and uneven edges, which add an impression of fragility. Always curved in shape, my pieces often resemble utilitarian objects that have stood the test of time.”

Delmotte, Francine

Looking for light reflections

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Your authorizations

Developed in partnership with Fondazione Cologni dei Mestieri d’Arte and made possible by the support of Cartier, Homo Faber in Città gives you a rare chance to visit over 70 artisan workshops. The project is developed in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Confartigianato Imprese Venezia, CNA Venezia, Consorzio Promovetro Murano, The Venice Glass Week and Venezia da Vivere.

Our Partners

Step inside the workshops and ateliers to learn the secrets of local master artisans and manufacturers

Try your hand at different crafts with an authentic experience

Marvel at examples of fine craftsmanship by doing our itineraries

This september, the second edition of Homo Faber in Città invites visitors to step off the beaten track and discover the artisanal addresses where Venetian craftspeople create objects of exquisite beauty. A rare opportunity to witness Venice’s master artisans and young talents demonstrating their crafts and presenting the tools, materials and skills involved in contemporary Venetian craftsmanship.

Enrich your experience beyond Homo Faber 2024: The Journey of Life

Account and data history

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Homo Faber Guide is an online portal dedicated to contemporary craftsmanship, showcasing artisans, ateliers, museums, galleries, shops and experiences. Create your user account for access to exclusive features on Homo Faber Guide: save your preferred pages, hear about hot topics first, leave recommendations for your favourite artisans and much more.

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Although the Michelangelo Foundation researches the talents for its projects autonomously, collaboration with our ambassadors is fundamental. Over 120 associations, schools and institutions allow us to map the continents for craftsmanship and to have partners in each country who share our vision and goals. In addition, we have asked well-known personalities in the craft, design and art world to be our ambassadors in the cities where they live, so that their recommendations can offer a unique insight into craftsmanship in the major cities of Europe and beyond.

Who are our ambassadors?

Download our free Homo Faber Guide app (iOS and Android) to discover artisans, museums, galleries, shops, and experiences by location. Search Homo Faber on the App store on your mobile device.

Find craftsmanship destinations on the go

Discover the addresses of esteemed manufacturers, well known for producing high quality objects across a wide variety of crafts. Read their stories and find out where you can shop their contemporary pieces, see their archive collections and even in some cases visit their workshops. Find exceptional ateliers where artisans collaborate creatively to create fine pieces of craftsmanship. Reach out to them to commission something special.

Ateliers & Manufacturers

All the artisans and small workshops featured in Homo Faber Guide have been carefully researched and selected. They are presented and narrated through a selection of images and an interview, which allows readers to immerse themselves in the universe of these makers who exemplify excellence in their individual fields or are promising talents of the future. Find masters and rising stars who share the same passion and determination, and whose workshops are ready to share their secrets with visitors.

A selection of the best artisans

Are you eager to discover a city through craftsmanship? Do you wish to spend a few hours visiting an applied arts museum or attending a course on a craft with one of the masters featured in Homo Faber Guide? Browse the section dedicated to experiences and find your next adventure.

Experiences

An expert artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years. He or she may also be engaged in passing on their knowledge to the next generations, but they have been doing so for less than seven years. Beyond this, they will become a Master artisan.

Who is an Expert artisan?

Homo Faber Guide provides you with a selection of the best addresses across Europe and further afield, where you will be able to discover and purchase exceptional objects, some of which are created by artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide.

Galleries

Homo Faber Guide is an online platform dedicated to craftsmanship that allows you to discover artisans and their masterpieces; explore museums, visit galleries and shops selling unique objects; enjoy experiences in cities across Europe and beyond.

Homo Faber Guide is a signature project developed by the Michelangelo Foundation for Creativity and Craftsmanship, an international non-profit organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, which was set up in 2016 thanks to the intuition of Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert. The Michelangelo Foundation’s mission is to celebrate and preserve master craftsmanship, and for this reason it has created a map of the most significant representatives in this field, with the aim of connecting all its protagonists: artisans, designers, gallery owners, art curators, collectors and enthusiasts of high-quality handmade pieces.

About the Guide

Are you an artisan, atelier or manufacturer? Would you like to be featured in Homo Faber Guide? The Michelangelo Foundation encourages self-assessment initiatives and is pleased to evaluate new members to appear on the Guide or in other projects. Thanks to the Master’s Touch Evaluation Tool, every artisan can send their application: register and access a questionnaire to see if you fulfill the 11 criteria for excellence that stand behind all the activities of the Michelangelo Foundation. If your answers reach the minimum requirement, your application will be brought to our attention; if, on the contrary, you should score below the minimum requirement, we will give you some points for improvement, in the hope that you may participate in future initiatives of the Michelangelo Foundation.

Join the Homo Faber Guide!

Our artisan labels

A master artisan is an accomplished artisan who has been in activity for more than ten years, and who has also been engaged in passing on his or her expertise to the younger generations for more than seven years. This is in keeping with one of the key values of the Michelangelo Foundation: the transmission of knowledge in craftsmanship.

Who is a Master artisan?

Find museums handpicked for their links to contemporary craftsmanship and the exquisite collections they have on display. In each city, discover a museum of interest and organise your visit. From Italian museums displaying coral collections, glass pieces and ceramics to decorative art museums in Russia and Greece, marvel at the variety of museums exhibiting masterpieces, showcasing techniques and recounting histories.

Museums

A rising star is an artisan who has been active for less than ten years, and who is capable of expressing his or her craft with competence, creativity and originality. Whether self-taught or trained, the rising star represents the future of craftsmanship, in creativity, concerns and approaches.

Who is a Rising star?

The artisans featured in Homo Faber Guide have been selected through a meticulous assessment process based on the 11 criteria for excellence, identified by Alberto Cavalli, Executive Director of the Michelangelo Foundation, in the volume The Master’s Touch, written with researchers Giuditta Comerci and Giovanna Marchello. The members of the Michelangelo Foundation’s network who have been invited to participate in sourcing artisans for the Guide use an evaluation tool based on these criteria. In this way, they can identify the most suitable artisans to include in the project.

Simple rules for a transparent selection

In which city does the artisan work?

In which country does the artisan practise?

What craft does the artisan practise?

What is the artisan’s Instagram page?

What is the name of the artisan you are recommending?

Does the artisan have a website?

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