A boom in designer lamp production occurred with the rise of Italian design in the 1960s when the Castiglioni brothers released the Arco, Taccia, and Parentesi lamps for Flos, and Vico Magistretti created the Eclisse for Artemide. They were followed by Richard Sapper, who created Tizio, and Bruno Munari with the famous Falkland for Danese.
Drawing inspiration from this magical moment, the lighting sector continued to evolve, driven by many technological innovations. Here we gathered some of the most famous designer lamps, icons selected for the quality of the project as well as for their unmistakable aesthetics.
In this list, we will include only lamps that are still in production and we’ll provide links to official retailers selling the originals online; purchases may result in a commission for ARCHIVEof OBJECTS.
Floor Lamps
Dividing designer lamps into categories was not easy, as many belong to many, and some to none. However, categories are useful, given that the world of lighting is vast and there is no shortage of examples of excellent design objects. We will use them to make distinctions and navigate a world so rich in interesting, intelligent, and aesthetic objects.
Akari 10A, isamo noguchi
The Akari Light Sculptures collection was designed starting in 1951 by artist, sculptor, and designer Isamu Noguchi and is now produced by Vitra. The name “Akari” in Japanese means brightness and lightness, and the light sculptures are a tribute to traditional Japanese paper lanterns. The result is a collection of captivating objects that have been enormously successful and are still revered by design enthusiasts today. Over the years, Noguchi continued to design his light sculptures, resulting in a catalog of about 100 models, including many floor lamps, table lamps, and pendants.
ARCO, ACHILLE & PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI
The Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni is a project from the 1960s, so ingenious, expressive, and original that it has attained the status of an icon and perhaps even a cliché. The subject of discussions, editions, copies, and treatises, Arco remains one of the best projects by the Castiglioni brothers. It was awarded the Compasso d’Oro Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and is part of the collections of the world’s most important design museums, from the Triennale di Milano to the MoMA in New York. Despite criticisms and the overuse of its sophisticated image, Arco remains one of the great projects by the Castiglioni brothers and one of the finest examples of Italian design.
READ ALSO: Floor Lamps: Classics of Design History >
Wall Lamps
Design wall lamps and sconces can either go unnoticed or take center stage. From the sculptural arm lamps by Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé to the small sconces by Vico Magistretti, here are the classics and icons of wall lamps.
TETI, VICO MAGISTRETTI
Designed in 1970 for Artemide, Teti is an original and elegant lamp, emblematic of its time’s aesthetic yet still relevant today, as it remains one of Artemide’s best sellers. Created to be a wall or ceiling lamp, Teti also has a larger counterpart, Triteti, which, as the name suggests, has three light points. According to Magistretti, the lamps are inspired by the shape of 18th-century silver inkwells or a chess piece. The designer lamp features a bare bulb without a lampshade, making the bulb the centerpiece of the design. Thus, the choice of bulb and its characteristics becomes an important part of the overall design, beyond the stylistic decisions of the designer.
Potence, Jean Prouvè
Throughout his life, the great French designer Jean Prouvé was overshadowed by the fame of Le Corbusier and his associates, until about twenty years ago when Vitra reissued some of his designs, revealing his work to contemporary audiences. Among the reissued projects by Vitra is the Potence wall lamp, designed by Prouvé for his Maison Tropicale. The lamp is highly effective and has a strong sculptural character, thanks to its functionalist essence. The 2.4-meter arm saves valuable floor space and the light point is adjustable, rotating about 180 degrees due to the lower part of the structure ending with a wooden ball. The strength and aesthetic qualities of Potence make it one of the most iconic designer lamps.
Design Table Lamps
Designer table lamps represent a vast and highly varied category. This includes desk lamps, reading lamps, and lamps for both private and public spaces. Here are just a few of the numerous excellent examples that are now considered design icons.
Anglepoise Original 1227
The Anglepoise Original 1227 is the archetype of the table lamp, a design classic still produced today by the same English company that launched it back in 1935. An example of 1930s English rationalism, this table lamp is the fortunate result of experimentation with car suspensions. Even today, it remains a model of functionality, elegance, and aesthetic strength. The Anglepoise is the archetype of the adjustable desk lamp, still copied by manufacturers and designers worldwide.
Tizio, Richard Sapper
The Tizio lamp by Richard Sapper is one of the most famous table lamps of all time, owned by those who love design and want to show it. For years, it has been a status symbol for company executives, artists, and architects, and today it holds the status of an icon in interior design. It was designed in 1971 by German designer Richard Sapper, who was responding to a request from Artemide to create a drawing lamp for architects. The result is this elegant, futurist-inspired lamp that is easily adjustable and not bulky, despite its wide and adjustable light beam. The Tizio lamp is easily adjusted thanks to a system of counterweights in the arms, allowing it to be moved precisely and effortlessly. This lamp combines technical, functional, and engineering components with a timeless aesthetic, creating one of the most coveted products in contemporary design.
Eclisse, Vico Magistretti
Eclisse is a bedside lamp designed by Vico Magistretti in 1965 and winner of the Compasso d’Oro in 1967. The lamp is still a huge success more than fifty years after its design, a result of Magistretti’s research during the 1960s. The ADI jury’s motivations clearly explain the impact of the Eclisse lamp: “This object embodies the dual quality of being a design of great value with good commercial potential. Additionally, the technical solution adopted is innovative, as the light flow can be adjusted simply by rotating the revolving lampshade.” Now collected by the world’s most prestigious institutions, including the Triennale di Milano and MoMA in New York, the Eclisse lamp remains a true classic of 1960s design and a relevant and successful design object in the contemporary world.
Taccia, Achille e Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
These are the words of Achille Castiglioni in 1986 regarding the renowned Taccia: I have to tell you that this lamp was thought out in the wrong way, and it’s also nice to say it. Flos didn’t exist yet, and we had designed this object with transparent plastics. When we placed the object, the heated plastic became flat, so our design was completely wrong. … And you see that the base made of a Doric column is an extrusion made to cool that kind of stove. At the base of that object, the heat generated is so strong that increasing the surface area means cooling it, like the fins of a motor.
The Castiglioni brothers were far from wanting to create a status lamp, imposing with a Doric column base. Instead, they sought to create an object that plays with indirect light and found a mechanical and engineering element to prevent it from overheating. The result is one of the most famous and celebrated design lamps ever, a lamp that, like Arco, almost risks entering the realm of cliché. And although the manufacturing component has been resolved, the matter of status certainly remains.
Tolomeo, De Lucchi & Fassina
Tolomeo is one of the most successful design lamps in the history of Artemide and certainly one of the great icons of Italian design. Designed by Michele de Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina in the early 1980s, it was presented to Artemide as a lamp that expanded the concept of mobility and tension. The components are made of aluminum, and the small dome is adjustable and can rotate 360 degrees. Its success is global and continues more than 40 years after its design—Artemide produces it in various versions, including mega, mini, with a clamp or desk attachment, and with a swivel arm. It won the Compasso d’Oro in 1989 for injecting technology and innovation into a classic product like the adjustable desk lamp.
Pendant Lamps
Pendant lamps, whether simple bulbs or intricate design chandeliers, are sculptural and often imposing components in the lighting of living rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. Here, we have gathered only the most famous examples of design lamps that serve as archetypes for this special category of lighting.
Parentesi, Achille Castiglioni e Pio Manzù
Designed in 1971 by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù for Flos, the Parentesi lamp has been and continues to be a huge public and commercial success. With this project, the designers won the Compasso d’Oro in 1979, and today Parentesi is part of the collections of industrial design museums worldwide. The name Parentesi derives from the shaped steel tube, which is the main element of the lamp, consisting of a cable that runs from ceiling to floor along which the light can be moved vertically, rotated, and directed. The construction elements are minimized, and it is precisely the functionality of the lamp that creates the conditions for such a strong identity and aesthetic.
PH5, Poul Henningsen
The famous PH pendant lamp series, designed by Danish designer Poul Henningsen and produced by Louis Poulsen, was presented at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 1925. Even today, the design has a futuristic aesthetic, but in reality, Henningsen’s research was far from such ideas, adopting a form based exclusively on technical studies that allowed for the creation of diffused and indirect light. The series also includes the famous PH Artichoke chandelier, which is a cornerstone of design lighting.
Mayday, Konstantin Grcic
Mayday is an unconventional lamp, certainly not a typical pendant lamp. As Konstantin Grcic himself says, he intended to design a lamp that did not conform to any typology but rather eluded them all. Hence, the Mayday, whose name derives from the emergency signal that boats send out when they are in trouble. The reference to this design object lies in the fact that the lamp is designed to be used as a work tool, an object that helps us in any situation. The lamp is inspired by work or emergency lamps, with long cables and functional hooks that can be hung anywhere. Produced by Flos and winner of numerous awards, Mayday is a classic of contemporary design and is collected by the most prestigious design museums.
Falkland, Bruno Munari
In his book Da Cosa Nasce Cosa, Bruno Munari describes his Falkland lamp in this way: The problem is to design a living room lamp with good light quality, which is not only functional but also decorative (certainly not in the sense of applied art, but having a form that is pleasing to everyone, a natural, logical form). Additionally, the object in question should be low-cost, easy to assemble, large in volume when in use, and very small in volume when in storage. Without expensive frameworks or mechanisms. Practical, durable, washable. The result of Munari’s research is this famous lamp produced by Danese Milano (now part of Artemide), a beautiful and intelligent design object, as only Munari could create.
