Kreativno staklo Srbije

Creative Glass Serbia

Kreativno staklo Srbije

Creative Glass Serbia

Zsuzsanna Deák:
Success on a path that the industry considered impassable

Originalna staklena glina Žužane Daek || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Original glass clay by Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

Zsuzsanna Deák: Success on a path that the industry considered impassable

Original glass clay by Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

Hailing from Szeged, glass artist Zsuzsanna Deák has been successfully exploring new ways of creatively using discarded architectural glass. This refers to glass as a building material, used as glazing in the building envelope (e.g., windows in the external walls) and interior partitions, often reinforced, tempered, or laminated. For conducting this daring research, which she began in 2019 during the work on her master’s thesis at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, she also received funding from the National Research, Development, and Innovation Fund. It proved that this public investment was sound and justified, as in 2023 Zsuzsanna received the prestigious ELLE Decoration International Design Award (EDIDA) for Sustainable Initiative of the Year, recognizing the innovative results of her research.

Skulptura iz serije Sunce i mesec, originalno Obnovljeno staklo (Re-built Glass), rad Žužane Daek || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Sculpture from the series Sun and Moon, original Re-built glass by Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

Working with a difficult and neglected material

She started from the fact that architectural glass is only sporadically recycled, unlike glass bottles and jars, whose collection and processing are well organised. Only about 30% of used architectural glass is converted into lower-value materials (glass asphalt, glass wool, and foam gravel), which are then used for road construction, insulation, and lightweight concrete mixtures. The rest is, at best, ground and buried in the soil. Based on current knowledge, it does not decompose even over the course of a thousand years and is often highly toxic due to various chemical coatings and reinforcements that make architectural glass extremely hard, photosensitive, and otherwise suitable in the construction industry.

Zsuzsanna has therefore dedicated herself to the recycling of float glass and glass sludge, as a process that, with lower energy consumption, will enable the reuse of enormous amounts of raw production materials (sand, limestone, soda, etc.) and result in new materials for artists and designers. Glass sludge is a waste material of the glass industry. It consists of solid glass particles that break off in the processes of glass cutting and polishing, and are discharged together with water.

Fusion of glass and clay

She examined these types of waste glass by heating them at different temperatures and adding additives to the melts. After two years of experimentation, she made a breakthrough and got even three brand new materials. She named them Re-built glass, glass clay, and foam glass.

The first, Re-built glass, is composed of 99% recycled architectural glass. When fused, it produces unique glass tiles, bricks, and panels. The production process was already feasible at 900°C, which is significantly lower than the 1300–1500°C required for the production of new glass, thereby demonstrating a notable energy saving. By using additives typically employed by ceramicists (glazes, masses, and plasticisers), she managed to fuse glass. With pâte de verre technique, this material can give artistic and decorative objects in a variety of forms.

Re-built glass; dizajn i izrada: Žužana Daek || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Re-built glass, made by Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

The first, Re-built glass, is composed of 99% recycled architectural glass. When fused, it produces unique glass tiles, bricks, and panels. The production process was already feasible at 900°C, which is significantly lower than the 1300–1500°C required for the production of new glass, thereby demonstrating a notable energy saving. By using additives typically employed by ceramicists (glazes, masses, and plasticisers), she managed to fuse glass. With pâte de verre technique, this material can give artistic and decorative objects in a variety of forms.

Re-built glass; dizajn i izrada: Žužana Daek || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Re-built glass, design and production: Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

The second, glass clay, consists of recycled architectural glass (50%) and reclaimed clay (50%), which Zsuzsanna collects from local ceramics studios (their leftover working material). From this material, she produces traditional ceramic objects at 1100–1200 °C.

In fact, many people have wanted to work with ceramic and glass fusing during their MA thesis, but they have mostly aborted it because the industry claimed that these two silicate materials cannot be fused. Nevertheless, I ignored this and started experimenting with it anyway.

– Zsuzsanna Deák, for Hype&Hyper, 2023.

Finally, from glass sludge, she developed a new thermal insulator, which she named foam glass (habüveg).

As she often says, she received significant help from András Mohácsi, her master’s thesis mentor, János Polyák, a glass artist and consultant on the project, and the ceramicists Péter Kemény and István Zakar, from whom she also learned a lot.
The research results were certified at the University of Pannonia in Veszprém, and Zsuzsanna began using these new and sustainable materials to create architectural elements and decorative and art objects. Her panels, hand-made of recycled architectural glass, were publicly presented for the first time as elements of a large partition screen, exhibited at the 360 DESIGN BUDAPEST show (2022), regularly organised by the Hungarian Fashion and Design Agency.
Prvi paneli od originalnog Obnovljenog stakla (Re-built glass), rad Žužane Daek iz 2022. godine || fotografija: Balázs Mohai, ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
The first panels of Re-built glass, developed by Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: Balázs Mohai, courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist
Staklena vaza Topaz iz serije Balaton, dizajn i izrada: Žužana Daek II || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Glass vase Topaz from the Balaton series, design and production: Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist
The professional community warmly welcomed her success. She was interviewed by numerous influential media outlets, ranging from national radio stations and design-focused platforms to fashion magazines, and in October 2023, she was honoured with the aforementioned EDIDA Award.

Conveying visions of sustainability to children and young people

While producing and working her original materials, which are becoming her signature, Zsuzsanna Deák often creates stained glass, perceiving it as a portal to the human spiritual being. She also makes objects from ordinary glass. Recently, she has been experimenting with oxides and precious metals (gold, copper, silver), which she applies to layers of glass to create luxurious decorative objects.
She regularly organises workshops on various glassmaking techniques (fusing, stained glass, Tiffany glass, glass painting, etc.), teaches at the Technical School and at the Faculty of Arts in Szeged, and occasionally works as a glass conservator.
Vaza iz serije Oksidi i plemeniti metali, staklo, dizajn i izrada: Žužana Daek || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Bowl from the series Oxides and Precious Metals, glass, design and production: Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

I find it inspiring and very exciting that I can encourage young people to think about sustainability.

– Zsuzsanna Deák, for Creative Glass Serbia, 2025.

So far, she has received four scholarships, and her works have been exhibited in four solo exhibitions and 30 group exhibitions. She is a member of the Hungarian Society of Glass Artists (MÜT), the National Association of Hungarian Artists (MAOE), the College of Art, Art Education and Art Mediation, the Szeged Applied Arts Salon, as well as the Student Art Council of the University of Szeged.
Dilema, skulpura u staklu, rad Žužane Deak || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Dilemma, glass sculpture, work of Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

My artistic research remains focused on Re-built glass (99% architectural glass waste) and glass clay (50% architectural glass waste and 50% recycled clay). I am constantly experimenting and have already produced several architectural elements: glass bricks, tiles, and panels. The market is increasingly asking for objects made from my glass clay. I will continue to develop these materials to show, to as wide an audience as possible, that sustainability and design can go hand in hand.

– Zsuzsanna Deák, for Creative Glass Serbia, 2025.

Bringing a sporting spirit to the craft of glass

She owes her versatility and boldness to her parents, especially her mother, who has always supported her artistic expression. When she enrolled in the graphic arts school in Szeged, she actually believed she would become a member of the national Olympic kayaking team. She had already been the Hungarian Champion in Women’s Kayak 500m (1991), but an unexpected and potentially serious injury prevented her from continuing her sports career. Nevertheless, she has kept her sporting spirit and channelled it into the work with graphics, and later with glass. That is how she broke through the conventional belief that glass and clay cannot be fused, and developed new glass materials.
Arijadnino klupko, odlivak u staklu, rad Žužane Deak || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Ariadne’s yarn, casting, work of Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist
Immediately after finishing high school, she began working as a graphic designer at the CE Glass factory in Szeged, where she soon became head of the decorative glass department. Then, for three years, she held the same position at Jüllich Glas Holding in Székesfehérvár. Despite her young age, she handled complex and responsible tasks. In the meantime, she started a family and continued her career as a freelance glass designer. When she enrolled in art studies at the age of 40, she already had 20 years of significant professional experience. Since the factories where she worked are specialised in the production of architectural glass, it is not surprising that she focused on the recycling of this type of glass during her MA studies.

Industrial production of new materials remains a major challenge

Persisting on the path that the glass industry considered impossible, Zsuzsanna Deák succeeded in transforming unrecyclable waste glass into materials that had never existed before. While their production saves raw materials and energy, they offer abundant possibilities for designing and creating both flat and hollow forms. Zsuzsanna is therefore actively building a network of business partners and searching for a factory that would be open to the industrial production of her innovative tiles and panels made from Re-built glass, composed of 99% architectural glass waste.
Re-built Glass stočići, dizajn i izrada: Žužana Deak || fotografija: ljubaznošću Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, umetnica stakla
Re-built Glass coffee tables, design and production: Zsuzsanna Deák || photo: courtesy of Deák Design Glass – Deák Zsuzsanna, glass artist

I would really love to see these two materials – Re-built glass and glass clay – put into production lines. I am looking for factories that might be interested in manufacturing tiles and panels from my materials. Collaboration with architects and interior designers is equally important to me, so that we can create as many designs as possible and use these materials in innovative ways. This is how we can jointly contribute to the creation of a more sustainable, but also more beautiful, built environment.

– Zsuzsanna Deák, for Creative Glass Serbia, 2025

Zsuzsanna responds to the challenges of recycling and sustainable development on a daily basis in her private life as well, especially since 2021, when she and her family moved to the countryside. Her spacious glass studio is part of a farm with a garden, a flock of lambs, and a small pond with carp. In such direct and constant contact with nature, sustainability became central to both her family life and her career, which is dedicated to researching and shaping glass. Whether she is working on art sculptures or functional objects, her goal is to draw the audience’s attention to her new materials, which are sustainable, full of potential, and demonstrate that nothing is impossible.

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