MIAMI, FLA.- Glass is characterized by the duality of its strong yet fragile nature. Poetically and metaphorically, glass reflects the spirit of those battling cancer, and therefore, it is the material of choice for the fourth edition of Luminaire’s “Love” fundraising auctions to benefit cancer research. Driven by their desire to give back and help find a cure, Luminaire founders Nasir and Nargis Kassamali are hosting GlasLove. This year’s design auction coincides with Breast Cancer Awareness Month and reinforces the multiple roles design can play as a problem-solving endeavor. Phillips, the international auction house, is partnering with Luminaire to sponsor and conduct the online and live auctions, which benefit research at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami. The online auction goes live September 19 and runs through October 11, 2016. GlasLove also features a live auction and gala dinner on Thursday, October 6, 2016, at the Moore Building in the Miami Design District.

Joining forces with the Kassamalis and Luminaire are some of the most distinguished international designers and design manufacturers, including Nendo, Piero Lissoni, Marcel Wanders, Naoto Fukasawa, Patricia Urquiola, Glas Italia, Lasvit, Arcade, and Venini, among others. These noted designers and design producers are generously donating their LOVE: time, talent, and one-off, limited-edition, or prototype works created in glass.

Strong yet brittle, translucent yet heat-resistant, glass has many contradictory properties. It is these very properties that define and make glass so versatile, functional, and beautiful. For GlasLove, these beautiful glass works to be auctioned will be imbued with another property: LOVE.

Cancer is a disease that touches almost every family. It can destroy, yet ironically, it also can also serve as a new lens onto the world. The illness tests the strength, resilience, and character of both patients and their families. Helping find a cure for this tragic disease is what propelled the Kassamalis and their company, Luminaire, to spearhead this successful fundraising series.

Among the highlights of GlasLove are more than thirty prototype pieces by Japanese designer Oki Sato (Nendo), made for his 2015 exhibition “Nendo-Works,” held at Museo della Permanente in Milan. The pieces were produced, sponsored, and donated for the auction by Glas Italia. Another spectacular auction offering is the Candy Collection Sphere Chandelier, designed by Fernando and Humberto Campana and produced and donated by the Czech glass company Lasvit. Venini is donating a glass work designed by the esteemed Japanese architect Tadao Ando. Luminaire Lab, located in the Miami Design District (3901 NE 2nd Ave., Miami, FL 33137), will display the auction items from September 19 through October 11, 2016. The online auction takes place those same dates; bidders can register at Phillips.com beginning September 19. The live auction and gala dinner will be held in the Moore Building, across the street from Luminaire Lab, on October 6, 2016. Call-in bids for the live auction will be accommodated, with instructions available on the Luminaire and Phillips websites. One hundred percent of the combined auctions’ proceeds will be donated to the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami.

A profound unity with friends and colleagues who share a passionate commitment to make a difference epitomizes Luminaire’s “Love” series, which recognizes design’s transformative power. These innovative and successful fundraising auction events began in 2006 with PuppyLove, when the Kassamalis decided to create the series to help raise research funds for and awareness of cancer, PaperLove in 2008 and DesignLove in 2011. The “Love” initiative has reached beyond the design community to include fashion designers such as Issey Miyake, architects such as Zaha Hadid, Herzog & De Meuron, and visual artists such as Arne Quinze, Michele Oka Doner, José Parlá and other luminaries dedicated to changing the course of cancer. The Kassamalis, thus far, have raised almost a million dollars through what has become a much-anticipated design auction. The Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami, has been the beneficiary from the inception of the series.