Design lamps: after the world of furniture design, it is now time for lighting fixtures – and their well-established manufacturers – to be seduced by vintage taste. Yes, you heard it right: more and more iconic lamps penned by Italy’s (and beyond) undiscussed masters of industrial design are currently re-entering production or get updated as contemporary tributes. A proof? The Milano Design Week 2018, which recently showcased a re-issue bonanza of lamps d’autheur. Whether in celebration of relevant anniversaries or in the attempt of giving timeless pieces a more modern feel by today’s creatives, here follows a selection of the most unmissable light design reinterpretations spotted at the Milano Design Week.
Flos launched two reissues of just as many masterpieces by Achille Castiglioni within the premises of its historical outpost on Corso Monforte, 9 in order to honour the designer’s 100th birth anniversary: already up for grab on the market, the lamps were featured into an ad hoc setting by creative duo Calvi Brambilla and inspired to the gran master of design’s famous motto: “If you are not curious, please leave it”. The two highlights include: Ventosa lamp, originally designed in 1962 as an “experimental and adjustable spotlight” that Castiglioni used to attach on his very forehead while sketching (as evidenced in a picture). The small reflector supported by a suction cup was here displayed to illuminate a 1984’s portrait series by photographer Luciano Soave (photo above). The yellow colour came as the ultime surprise. Also, here came Nasa, a playful reading lamp dating back to 1974 and made of a battery connected to two wires with a small bulb at each end, for clipping onto a pair of spectacles (as Castiglioni himself used to do). All creations by the Italian designer for the brand, alongside a selection of sketches and archive material, was presented at the Flos showroom.
Let’s move on to La Triennale, where Martinelli Luce asked 23 prestigious designers to re-think Cobra, the legendary table lamp conceived by Elio Martinelli in 1968 (photo below). Made of two moulded volumes in heat-curing resin, the lamp features a lower part designed to rotate on the steel base and connect with the upper part by a central joint to allow 360° rotation. The newest reissues play with colours (forget the B/W) and ornamental patterns and motifs. The engaged series of designers include Alessandro Mending, Paola Navone, Karim Rashid, and Brian Sironi. Emiliana Martinelli, Elio’s daughter, realised a monochrome red version, and is also author of the reissue of Scorpio, an homage to her father’s zodiac sign.
On via del Conservatorio, 22, at a stone’s throw away from Fondazione Vico Magistretti, Oluce presents AtolloArte, a project curated by architect Nicola Di Battista and developed with the collaboration of the foundation itself, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic lamp. Enzo Cucchi, Mimmo Paladino, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Ettore Spalletti – four contemporary art masters – have been asked to “pay tribute to Magistretti’s lamp by creating their own work which stems from the original one and which also expresses their personal understanding of art” (photo below). By acknowledging Atollo as an ideal object, Enzo Cucchi did just provide custom packaging for both the cone and diffuser. For his part, Mimmo Paladino turned the table lamp into a playful Pinocchio. Ettore Spalletti added a sinuous comma – a nearly cut moon – to shine against the bulb’s dark sky. Lastly, Michelangelo Pistoletto explored the tension between natural and artificial light through the decorative use of a candle. A 38-kg Atollo variant made of Portoro, the precious marble from Porto Venere, may soon re-enter production. Setting up by Ferruccio Laviani.
Ingo Maurer joins up the play with a special edition of Bulb, featured in the MoMA’s permanent collection since 1969 and now reissued in a limited numbered collection of 100 pieces (photo below). The base of Bulb Limited is made of brass and the crystal glass is decorated with a handful of printed flies and the quote from Gabriel Garcia Marquez: "The most beautiful light comes from the human heart”.
