Pinocchio Salvagni

Known for his use of luxurious materials such as precious metals, warm woods and even gemstones in his extensive range of tables, lighting and decorative objects, Italian architect and interior designer Achille Salvagni is widely collected and celebrated by design enthusiasts around the globe.   

Born in Rome in 1970, Salvagni was raised in a home that was filled with an eclectic mix of early 20th-century furniture and objects, thanks to his father’s buying tours of art and furniture galleries in Milan and Rome. Salvagni’s father was a key influence on his early interest in art and design — the younger Salvagni began drawing furniture at the age of 10. He would later find inspiration in the work of modernist architects like Alvar Aalto and Erik Gunnar Asplund.

Salvagni attended Sapienza University in Rome, obtaining a degree in architecture in 1998. He subsequently won a grant to study at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. 

In 2002, Salvagni founded his architecture firm Salvagni Architetti where his early projects included supermarket interiors, grand Italian apartments and yacht cabins. In 2007, he won an award at the World Yacht Trophies in Cannes for his work on the M.Y. Mikymar, a 120-foot, four-cabin yacht. 

Salvagni’s reputation for his sleek, lavish interiors drew acclaim from critics and fellow designers, and he soon established an elite global clientele. Although his primary focus was on interior design, Salvagni often found himself creating furnishings to complement his decorating projects.

While Salvagni draws from a wide range of historical elements in many of his furniture designs — for example, his Lancea table lamp is inspired by a voluminous skirt worn by Queen Elizabeth I — the influence of Art Deco can be seen in some of his coffee tables, wall sconces, side tables and chairs.

“Art Deco is the perfect balance between the past and the future,” Salvagni once said. 

Salvagni has exhibited at several galleries worldwide, including Maison Gerard in Manhattan and the Laguna gallery in London. His first show at the former took place in 2013, and designers like Amy Lau, Victoria Hagan and Jamie Drake bought pieces on behalf of clients. Salvagni's works have also been shown at PAD exhibitions in Paris, London, Monaco and Geneva. 

Find Achille Salvagni decorative objects, seating, storage cabinets and other furniture on 1stDibs.

The modern floor lamp is an evolution of torchères — tall floor candelabras that originated in France as a revolutionary development in lighting homes toward the end of the 17th century. Owing to the advent of electricity and the introduction of new materials as a part of lighting design, floor lamps have taken on new forms and configurations over the years. 

In the early 1920s, Art Deco lighting artisans worked with dark woods and modern metals, introducing unique designs that still inspire the look of modern floor lamps developed by contemporary firms such as Luxxu. 

Popular mid-century floor lamps include everything from the enchanting fixtures by the Italian lighting artisans at Stilnovo to the distinctly functional Grasshopper floor lamp created by Scandinavian design pioneer Greta Magnusson-Grossman to the Paracarro floor lamp by the Venetian master glass workers at Mazzega. Among the more celebrated names in mid-century lighting design are Milanese innovators Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, who, along with their eldest brother, Livio, worked for their own firm as architects and designers. While Livio departed the practice in 1952, Achille and Pier Giacomo would go on to design the Arco floor lamp, the Toio floor lamp and more for legendary lighting brands such as FLOS. 

Today’s upscale interiors frequently integrate the otherworldly custom lighting solutions created by a wealth of contemporary firms and designers such as Spain’s Masquespacio, whose Wink floor lamps integrate gold as well as fabric fringes. 

Visual artists and industrial designers have a penchant for floor lamps, possibly because they’re so often a clever marriage of design and the functions of lighting. A good floor lamp can change the mood of any room while adding a touch of elegance to your entire space. Find yours now on 1stDibs.