LAB 9 EDUCATION originated from the passion, vision, and determination of Christina Cianci. After earning her International Diploma of Floral Design in Milan in 2019, she decided to bring not only her education back to Croatia, but an entirely fresh vision of floral culture and the art of floral design — with the aim of raising awareness, spreading knowledge, and contributing to the growth of this discipline in the country. To empower this vision, she partnered with her mentors and top experts, Vincenzo Antonuccio and Marilena Calbini from VM Design.
Lab 9 Education
In its most sublime form, floral design is much more than simply arranging flowers — it is a language of emotion, spatial architecture, and visual art that transforms spaces and experiences. Born from a deep dedication to this craft, a platform was created to push the boundaries of the domestic floral scene.
Recognizing the value of the project, they chose to support it by offering their wealth of experience, skills, and expertise. This encounter built a bridge between education, art, and innovation—a project aimed at accelerating the evolution of floral design in Croatia and fostering a floral culture that is increasingly aware, contemporary, and internationally recognized. LAB 9 EDUCATION is not merely a project; it is a shared
vision born from a passion to transform knowledge into culture, and culture into the future.
CHRISTINA CIANCI
International Floral Designer
For Christina Cianci, flowers have always been a medium through which to channel her authentic artistic perception of beauty and emotion, prompting her to open her first flower shop in 2004. However, her rich floral expression soon demanded a much broader horizon, marking the beginning of a period of intensive and continuous education. The turning point came in 2007 through courses at the esteemed Laboratorio Idee floral design school, where she met Master Carmelo Antonuccio. His passion for creative expression and mastery became an endless source of inspiration for her professional breakthrough.
Her pursuit of perfection led her to Milan where, in 2016 at the world-renowned Laboratorio Idee school under the mentorship of Vincenzo Antonuccio, she enrolled in the floral design program. She graduated in 2019, earning the prestigious title of International Floral Designer, making her the sole holder of this credential in Croatia. She further broadened her design expertise in 2018 by completing the Space Design
program in Rome. To stay aligned with the latest trends and continuously refine her knowledge means,
for Christina, developing her own potential while passing on that passion to anyone sharing a love for floral art. She regularly participates in numerous international workshops, conferences, and symposiums, tirelessly learning from the world’s leading names. The roster of masters she has collaborated with is truly impressive: from World Champion Bart Hassam (Australia) and European Champion Hanneke Frankema (Netherlands), to renowned experts such as Peter Hesse, Carmelo Antonuccio, Marina Bulatova, Marilena Calbini, Marie Hélène Hess-Boson, Roman Steinhauer, Anson Low, Elly Lin, Per Benjamin, Max Van de Sluis, and Tamas
Mezoffy. Of special note is her ongoing collaboration with her primary mentor, Vincenzo Antonuccio, Italy’s representative at the Floral Art World Cup in the USA.
Today, Christina serves as the official representative of the International School of Floral Art for Croatia and Slovenia, and in 2025 she launched the first School of
Floral Art in Rijeka. Her expertise also extends to showroom design teams for Italian wholesale suppliers of decorative materials and paper packaging. Furthermore, she is the founder and organizer of FLORAL WEEK OPATIJA, an artistic, cultural, and
educational event that brings together leading international designers and Croatian florists.
As the owner of LAB 9 in Opatija—a studio specialized in wedding and event styling—Christina closely follows cutting-edge aesthetic trends. Her bouquets and floral creations exude a distinct elegance, and she applies the same dedication to styling and designing storefronts, commercial spaces, and hotels using fresh flowers
alongside carefully curated vegetative and non-vegetative materials.
VM DESIGN
Where nature becomes a project, a project becomes an emotion, and emotion blossoms into art.
VM Design emerged from the meeting of Master Vincenzo Antonuccio and Marilena
Calbini—two complementary personalities united by a shared vision: transforming
nature into a unique artistic and design language.
For VM Design, nature represents matter, form, color, space, and emotion. Every project stems from a clear concept developed through research, technique, sensitivity, and meticulous attention to detail, ultimately becoming an experience capable of awakening emotions and leaving a deep, unforgettable impression.
VM Design represents an exciting convergence of art and design, nature and architecture, creativity and technique through thorough, ongoing research. The philosophy of VM Design is rooted in the ability to translate vision into matter, giving shape to ideas that turn into reality and pure emotion. VM consistently pursues a clear mission: elevating floral design from mere decoration into an authentic expression of fine art and high design.
