White Opaline Glass Italian Pendant Lamp by Achille e Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
About the Item
- Creator:Flos (Maker),Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 13.01 in (33.02 cm)Diameter: 19.01 in (48.26 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Byron Bay, AU
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4258236477962
Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Milanese industrial designer-architects Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1918–2002; 1913-68) created some of the most iconic furniture designs in the world, particularly those that originated in the realm of mid-century modern lighting.
In the late 1930s, after graduating from the acclaimed Polytechnic University of Milan, Pier Giacomo opened a design studio with his brother Livio and likeminded architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Achille, also a graduate of Milan Polytechnic, joined the group after completing his studies in 1944. The era’s architects were encountering difficulty in their attempts to secure building commissions, so the group focused on designing practical everyday objects such as the Model 547, a tabletop radio for Phonola that was encased in Bakelite.
The Castiglioni brothers produced wildly popular and innovative designs throughout the 20th century. While Livio departed the practice in 1952 to pursue lighting design and sound technology on his own, Pier Giacomo and Achille would continue to collaborate on a wealth of projects in the ensuing years.
Vintage furniture collectors may be familiar with Livio and Italian designer Gianfranco Frattini’s serpent-like Boalum lamp, while Achille’s Taraxacum hanging lamp — created for FLOS with sprayed plastic polymers originally intended for military use — as well as the Arco, Snoopy and Toio lamps, which were the result of the collaboration between Pier Giacomo and Achille, are milestones in modernist lighting design.
Also for FLOS, Pier Giacomo and Achille created a series of metal frames that, wrapped in the polymer, became floor lamps (Gatto) or pendant lights (Viscontea and Taraxacum), all released in 1960. The Gatto floor lamp takes its name from the Italian word for “cat” and the inspiration for its aesthetic from lighting that George Nelson developed for legendary American furniture manufacturer Howard Miller during the 1940s. Around the same time, the designer Tobia Scarpa (son of the famed Italian architect Carlo Scarpa and one-half of the widely revered postmodern husband-and-wife design duo Afra and Tobia Scarpa) created a floor lamp called Fantasma (1961) using the polymers technique. FLOS continues to make the Castiglionis’ innovative pieces today.
In addition to their provocative lighting works, Pier Giacomo and Achille also created stereo systems, decorative objects, seating, tables and other items for the likes of Brionvega, Alessi, Zanotta, Kartell and more.
Find vintage Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni floor lamps, table lamps, pendants, seating and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Flos
Imaginative lighting is a longtime hallmark of modern Italian design. Following in the footsteps of innovative companies such as Artemide and Arteluce, the company FLOS brought a fresh aesthetic philosophy to the Italian lighting field in the 1960s, one that would produce several of the iconic floor lamp, table lamp and pendant light designs of the era.
FLOS — Latin for “flower” — was founded in the northern town of Merano in 1962 by Cesare Cassina (of the famed Cassina furniture-making family) and Dino Gavina, a highly cultured businessman who believed that artistic ideas espoused in postwar Italy could inform commercial design. The two enlisted brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni as their first designers.
Even before FLOS was formally incorporated, the Castiglionis gave the firm one of its enduring successes with the Taraxacum pendant and associated designs made by spraying an elastic polymer on a metal armature. (George Nelson had pioneered the technique in the United States in the early 1950s.) For other designs, the brothers found inspiration in everyday objects. Suggestive of streetlights, their Arco floor lamp, with its chrome boom and ball-shaped shade sweeping out from a marble block base, has become a staple of modernist decors. Designing for FLOS since 1966, Tobia Scarpa has also been inspired by the commonplace. His folded-metal Foglio sconces resemble a shirt cuff; his carved marble Biagio table lamp looks like a jai alai basket.
In 1973, FLOS purchased Arteluce, the company founded in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti, and it continues to produce his designs. In recent decades, FLOS has contracted work from several noted designers, including Marcel Wanders and Jasper Morrison. As instantly recognizable as they are, many FLOS designs remain accessible. While FLOS lighting is the essence of modernity, its sleek, subtle designs can be used to strike a sculptural note in even traditional spaces.
Browse a broad range of FLOS lighting fixtures at 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Byron Bay, Australia
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- White Opaline Glass Italian Pendant Lamp by Achille e Pier Giacomo CastiglioniBy Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Byron Bay, NSWCeiling lamp designed in 1965 by the Castiglioni brothers. Produced by Flos. It produces diffused light through the opal glass diffuser and concentrated light with a polished aluminu...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Cocoon Large Table Lamp by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for FlosBy Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Byron Bay, NSWThe Gatto table lamp is a representation of the Castiglioni brothers' design philosophy, which often involved a combination of functional innovation and a sense of whimsy. The use of...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni Cocoon Floor LampBy Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Byron Bay, NSWThis extremely rare floor lamp features an internal steel structure with three light sockets and is covered with sprayed resin cover, which provides beautiful soft light effects. This piece is a stunning example of mid-century modern lighting design.The Cocoon floor...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsResin
- Space Age White Glass Italian Pendant LightLocated in Byron Bay, NSWSpace Age in white glass Italian pendant light.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Space Age Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGlass
- Italian Round White Glass Pendant Light 1960sLocated in Byron Bay, NSWItalian Round White Glass Pendant Light 1960sCategory
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGlass, Wood
- Italian White Pendant Thick Glass and Brass 1970sLocated in Byron Bay, NSWItalian White Pendant Thick Glass and Brass 1970sCategory
Vintage 1970s Italian Space Age Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Achille Castiglioni & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Viscontea, Pendant Light FlosBy Achille Castiglioni, Flos, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Paris, FRAchille Castiglioni (1918-2002) & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1913-1968) Viscontea A resin and metal pendant light, the internal metal frame covered with a sprayed resin coated shad...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- FLOS Taraxacum 2 Pendant Light by Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniBy Achille Castiglioni, Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Brooklyn, NYMake a wish: Named after the humble Dandelion, the Taraxacum pendant light astonishes with a gorgeously diffused blooming light. The white powd...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsSteel
- FLOS Viscontea Pendant Light by Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniBy Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe cocoon-like structure suggests transformation, and here it is the gorgeously glowing diffused light that recreates the ambiance of any room the Viscontea is featured in. The inte...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsPlastic
- FLOS Taraxacum 1 Pendant Light by Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniBy Flos, Achille Castiglioni, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Brooklyn, NYMake a wish: Named after the humble Dandelion, the Taraxacum pendant light astonishes with a gorgeously diffused blooming light. The white powder coated internal steel structure is s...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsSteel
- "Black and White" Pendant Lamp by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni For FlosBy Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in Miklavž Pri Taboru, SIMid-century lamp with opal glass bowl for diffused light. For concentrated light, a polished aluminum reflector is fitted to the base with a silver domed reflector bulb. "Black & Whi...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsAluminum
- Suspension lamp "Cocoon Taraxacum" by Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniBy Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo CastiglioniLocated in PARIS, FRSuspension lamp model "Cocoon Taraxacum" by brothers Achille (1918-2002) & Pier (1913-1968) Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos in the 1960s (Italy). The internal structure is made of steel...Category
Mid-20th Century Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsSteel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
We Dare You Not to Smile at These Whimsical Italian Designs
Make anyplace your happy place with Italian furniture at its subversive best.
Rooms We Love: 11 Splendid Living Rooms
Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.