ACHILLE AND PIER GIACOMO CASTIGLIONI, 1962
Object
The Taccia lamp is one of the best-known objects in Italian design, designed in 1962 by brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. Taccia is a long-standing bestseller for Flos, continuously produced since 1962.
This iconic lamp has traveled through time, and remains relevant due to the high quality of its design and Flos’s continuous research into materials and innovative solutions. Taccia has been updated to an LED lamp and is available with a PMMA (high-quality plastic) shade instead of Murano glass, reducing production costs and offering a more streamlined solution.
There is also a mini version, and the column bases for all versions of the lamp are now available in four colors: black, white, silver, and bronze. Thus, today the Taccia lamp respects the original design formally, while its technological components continue to advance and stay up-to-date.
The Taccia Lamp: A Project by the Castiglioni Brothers
The Taccia lamp, designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1962, is a timeless classic and long-lasting Flos product, alongside other iconic designs like the Arco and Gatto lamps.
The story behind the design of the Taccia lamp is both unique and ironic, qualities that characterize the entire body of work by the Castiglioni brothers.
Achille Castiglioni explained it perfectly in a talk in Florence in 1986: I must tell you that this lamp was thought of 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 plastic materials. When we put the object there, the heated plastic became flat, so our design was completely wrong. … And you see that the base made like a Doric column is an extrusion that is made to cool that kind of stove. At the base of that object, there is such strong heating that increasing the volume of the surface means cooling it, like the fins of a motor.
What seems like a post-modern object thus reveals itself as a formal solution to a practical problem. The Castiglioni brothers were far from wanting to create a status object; they were interested in an honest project that found intelligent and ironic solutions to construction problems with the new (for the time) plastic materials.
Recognition and Cultural Impact of the Taccia Lamp
There is no doubt that the Taccia lamp is one of the most famous objects of Italian design. Produced by Flos for over sixty years, this lamp boasts great aesthetic power, confirmed by its long-standing critical and public success.
Culturally, the Taccia lamp has become synonymous with sophisticated and luxurious atmospheres, despite the original intentions of its designers.
The Taccia has been featured in numerous design exhibitions in Italy and abroad and is part of the world’s most important design collections, including the MoMA in New York, the Triennale di Milano, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to name a few.
Achille Castiglioni
Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002) was a master of Italian design. Among his most famous creations are the Arco and Taccia lamps and the Mezzadro stool. His intelligent and ironic approach combines functionality, technical innovation, and aesthetics, making him one of the most influential designers of the 20th century.
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1913-1968) was a pioneer of Italian industrial design. His work is distinguished by the innovative use of materials and a design approach focused on functionality and formal experimentation and irony. Among his most notable works in collaboration with his brither Achille, are the Arco lamp and the Mezzadro chair.
FLOS
Flos is a lighting and lamp manufacturer founded in Merano in 1962 by Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina. After relocating to Brianza, Flos quickly began producing culturally significant design objects, such as the iconic Parentesi, Arco, and Taccia by the Castiglioni brothers, as well as Drop 2 by Marc Sadler and the MayDay by Konstantin Grcic. Flos design objects are collected by design museums worldwide and have won numerous international awards and recognitions.
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Details
Produced by Flos
The original version of the Taccia lamp is available on Farfetch.com >
Dimensions of the Taccia table lamp by Flos:
Base: aluminum
Lampshade: blown glass
