German Postmodern Sucu Cactus Floor Lamp by Art Nowo for Flötotto, 1980s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Cactus floor lamp from Flötotto in a special version. The large sucu in green is very rare to find.
Plastic
Postmodern Vintage Black Floor Lamp by Carlo Forcolini 1989 for Artemide Italy
By Artemide, Carlo Forcolini
Located in Vienna, AT
Also the on/off switch shows two steps of lighting: soft and medium. The floor lamp captivates through its postmodern design.
Metal
Postmodern ir Art Deco revival Torchiere Floor Lamp in brass, Italy 1970s
By Stilnovo
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a striking example of Italian modernist lighting from the 1970s, this sculptural floor torchiere embodies the bold material contrasts and architectural ...
Brass, Wrought Iron
$1,787Sale Price|44% Off
Postmodern Brushed Steel Female Leg Marilyn Monroe Floor Lamp w/ Shade 1990
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Hand machined Brushed Steel Female Leg Floor Lamp inspired by Marilyn Monroe. This unique piece was forged and finished from raw steel to the shape of a human leg, with a carved pine...
Steel
Postmodern Early Model Pao F Tripod Floor Lamp Matteo Thun Arteluce Italy 1990s
By Arteluce, Matteo Thun
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern Early Model Pao F Tripod Floor Lamp by Matteo Thun for Arteluce, Italy, 1990s The floor lamp version from Arteluce’s Pao lamp series, designed by Matteo Thun. Shown here ...
Metal
Vintage Postmodern Olympia Floor Lamp by Jorge Pensi for B.Lux, 1980s
By Jorge Pensi
Located in Hamburg, DE
Elegant floor lamp from the Spanish manufacturer B.Lux after a design by Jorge Pensi from the 80s. This floor lamp convinces with it's slender design language and the special materi...
Metal
Italian Postmodern Elle 55 Floor Lamp by Tommaso Cimini for Lumina, 1980s
By Tommaso Cimini
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern floor lamp from the Italian manufacturer Lumina according to a design by Tommaso Cimini from the 80s. Here is a rare version with a special version. An impressive yet fil...
Metal
Postmodern floor lamp BRASILIA by Michel Boyer for Verre Lumiere, France 1974
By Verre Lumière, Michel Boyer
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an extraordinary example of modernist design - the Brasilia lamp designed by Michel Boyer for the lighting company Verre Lumière. This hand-made lamp ...
Steel
Italian Postmodern Zeta Terra Floor Lamp by Giuseppe Linardi for Lumina, 1990s
Located in Hamburg, DE
The standing lamp from the Zeta series from the Italian lighting manufacturer Lumina according to a design by Giuseppe Linardi from the early 90s. The Zeta Terra is a classic ceilin...
Metal
Monumental Postmodern Shogun Floor Lamp by Mario Botta for Artemide Italy 1980s
By Mario Botta, Artemide
Located in München, BY
Monumental postmodern "Shogun Terra" Floor Lamp. Designed by Mario Botta for Artemide, Italy, 1980s. Marked on the top of the shaft. Two curved and perforated diffusers can be adj...
Metal, Iron
Late 20th Cent Modern to Postmodern Southwest Style Textured Plaster Floor Lamp
Located in Topeka, KS
Incredible vintage modern to postmodern southwest style textured sculptural plaster floor lamp with its original beige linen-like coolie shade. Beautiful condition, keeping in mind t...
Metal
$1,883Sale Price / set|35% Off
Pair of Postmodern Floor Lamps Panto Beam by Danish designer Verner Panton
By Verner Panton
Located in Doornspijk, NL
Pair of Postmodern Floor Lamps Panto Beam by Danish designer Verner Panton. One black and one white Panto Beam, this pair of lamps was designed by Verner Panton in 1998. The lamps a...
Steel
Pair of Memphis-Style Postmodern Floor Lamps with Cobalt Blue Glass Pyramids
By Stilnovo
Located in Chicago, IL
Two postmodern 77" floor lamps having square black metal bases supporting four silver tubular columns, which are surmounted by square black metal uplight shades to mimic the shape of...
Enamel, Steel
Postmodern Organic Rattan Floor Lamp by Udom Udomsrianan and Planet, 2001
Located in Philadelphia, PA
An incredibly unique design in organic rattan by Udom Udomsrianan and produced by Planet, 2001. Consists of woven jungle vines with stainless steel and patinated wood block base. Out...
Stainless Steel
Postmodern Memphis Style Floor Lamp, Burnished Metal and Blue Glass, Italy, 1980
By Sottsass Associati
Located in Berlin, DE
Postmodern Memphis style torchiere/ floor lamp, Italy c. 1980. The rough burnished metal lamp rod has the typical Memphis 'Pilastro' composition, with a glass tube segment and a glas...
Metal
1980s Heavy Metal Chrome Elephant Floor Lamp as Side Table Postmodern Design
Located in München, DE
Very rare chrome metal elephant as a floor lamp or table lamp. Great postmodern design from the 1980s.
Metal, Chrome
$1,480Sale Price|20% Off
Mid-Century Postmodern Italian Relux Black & Red Milano Eyeball Floor Lamp, 1980s
Located in Madison, WI
Rare original floor lamp by Italian Relux. Excellent working condition, with a dimming foot-switch. It features a globe head that can be rotated to position, and glows as the light i...
Glass
Italian Postmodern Duna Floor Lamp by Barbaglia & Colombo for PAF Studio, 1980s
By Mario Barbaglia and Marco Colombo
Located in Hamburg, DE
Rare standing lamp from the duna series from the italian manufacturer paf studio. An elegant design from italy. The actual luminaire body of the duna is a flat, rectangular disc tha...
Metal
Postmodern Floor Lamp Kru Kiterra by Tiziano Inguanotto for Sem Luci Italy 1980s
Located in Kelkheim (Taunus), HE
Minimalist / Post-modern Floor Lamp Kru Kiterra by Tiziano Inguanotto for Sem Luci, Milano Italy. Designer Tiziano Inguanotto Maker Sem Luci, Milano Italy Era 1980s Material meta...
Metal
Postmodern floor lamp Club 1195 by Giuseppe Ramella for Arteluce, ITALY 1980s
By Pier Giuseppe Ramella, Arteluce
Located in Catania, CT
Adjustable floor lamp model Club 1195, designed by Giuseppe Ramella for Arteluce and produced in Italy during the 80s. Fair vintage condition with trace of age and use. Some lack of ...
Metal
Postmodern German Lumibär Bear Floor Lamp by Klein & Leidig for Flötotto, 1990s
Located in Hamburg, DE
The Lumibär is a design classic from Flötto. The bright bear. Here in a very rare version lying down. Not just something for the children's room. The design is so simple that it als...
Plastic
Pair of Rare Postmodern Floor Lamps by Ligne Roset Extensia Fluo Torchiere
By Ligne Roset
Located in San Diego, CA
These pair of rare floor torchiere lamps have a fluorescent tube and halogen light, ribbed perspex on reverse, brushed aluminum sides, and perforated front with a movable halogen top...
Aluminum
Postmodern Tubular Floor Lamp "Tall Spiral No.5" by Thierry Vide, France 1999
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a sleek Postmodern/Contemporary floor lamp model "Tall Spiral No.5" designed by Thierry Vide. The lamp is done in perforated stainless steel and it feat...
Stainless Steel
Postmodern German Vela Sail Floor Lamp A. Engbert Franz Ringelhan for Rolf Benz
By Rolf Benz
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern floor lamp by Rolf Benz based on a design by A. Engbert and F. Ringelhan from 1990. The design clearly shows its maritime inspiration. An abstract sailboat with an exagg...
Aluminum
Resin, Chrome and Fiberglass Floor Lamp Postmodern Memphis Style by Steve Zoller
By Steve Zoller
Located in Doornspijk, NL
American artist Steve Zoller is unique in his use of color, elemental shapes and flamboyant style. In 1993 he made this beautiful floor lamp together with a table lamp, a sconce and ...
Chrome
Postmodern German Lumibär Bear Floor Lamp by Klein & Leidig for Flötotto, 1990s
By Elmar Flötotto
Located in Hamburg, DE
The Lumibär is a design classic from Flötotto. THE glowing bear. Here in a very rare reclining version. Not just for the children's room. The design is so simple that it also fits w...
Plastic
Postmodern Floor Lamp "Rio" by Rodolfo Bonetto and Produced by Luci, Italy
By LUCI Illuminazione, Rodolfo Bonetto
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1980s. This beautiful floor lamp by Rodolfo Bonetto for Luci features a varnished metal and rubber stem . It is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight trace...
Metal
Postmodern German Lumibär Bear Floor Lamp by Klein & Leidig for Flötotto, 1990s
Located in Hamburg, DE
The Lumibär is a design classic from Flötotto. The bright bear. Not just something for the children's room. The design is so simple that it also fits wonderfully as a light object...
Plastic
Postmodern Model Pao F Floor Lamp by Matteo Thun for Arteluce, Italy, 1990s
By Matteo Thun
Located in Hamburg, DE
The floor lamp version from the PAO light series from Arteluce according to a design by Matteo Thun. The Pao lights impress with their characteristic diffuser and foot made of matt ...
Glass, Wood
Postmodern Birillo Side Table and Floor Lamp by Parisotto for Fontana Arte, 80s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Postmodern side table with lighting by the Italian manufacturer Fontana Arte, designed by Parisotto from the 80s. A rare piece and hard to find. The design follows a post-modern des...
Metal
Set of 2 Postmodern German Table Floor Lamps light blue white Swirl Pattern, 80s
Located in Hamburg, DE
Set of 2 Postmodern German Table and Floor Lamp with light blue and white Swirl Pattern, 1980s Postmodern lamps with a playful pattern. Here as a rare set of floor and table lamp. ...
Metal
Postmodern Memphis School Zen Floor Lamp by Gismondi for Artimede Made in Italy
By Ernesto Gismondi, Artimide
Located in New York, NY
Iconic Post - Modern, Memphis style halogen uplight floor lamp, designed by Ernesto Gismondi for Artimede, made in Italy circa 1980's. The lamp features two lights, a fixed lower sha...
Aluminum, Steel
Postmodern Chrome-Plated Metal Floor Lamp in the style of Franco Albini Italy
By Franco Albini
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1970s. It is made in chrome-plated and varnished metal and etched molded glass. This is a vintage piece, therefore it might show slight traces of use, but it can be co...
Metal, Chrome
Postmodern Sculptural Lamps by Pacific Coast - a Pair
Located in Bradenton, FL
A pair of postmodern lamps by Pacific Coast dated 1991. Postmodern sculptural style vases in peach are cast with flowing folds draped to give the look of fabric. Both the table lamp ...
Ceramic
$1,250 / set
Postmodern Torchiere Lamps by Casa Bique, a Pair
By Casa Bique
Located in Raleigh, NC
Outstanding pair of 1980’s floor lamps. These mount flush to the wall as they sit on the floor. Tessellated stone with inset brass detail.
Stone
$1,000Sale Price|66% Off
Rare Postmodern George Kovacs Lamps with Illuminated Display Trays
By George Kovacs
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Unique and rare pair of postmodern George Kovacs floor lamps. White tray supported by chrome uprights. The top two trays on each lamp have light bulbs underneath. All working. Turned...
Metal
1970s Italian Space Age Tubular Floor Lamp
By Robert Sonneman
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Ideal for design-led interiors, studios, reading corners, or as a statement object in minimal spaces. space age floor lamp, 1970s floor lamp, tubular steel lamp, adjustable goosenec...
Steel
Martine Bedin 1st Edition Super Lamp, Memphis Milano, Postmodern, Italy, 1980s
By Martine Bedin, Memphis Group
Located in Vienna, AT
Early first edition postmodern Super lamp, designed by Martine Bedin in 1981 for Memphis Group. To use a rolling table or floor lamp. From the first edition, made of fiberglass with ...
Metal
Postmodern Sculpture Torchiere Lamp “Let There Be Neon” Rudi Stern Style
By Rudi Stern and Don Chelsea
Located in Chicago, IL
Postmodern Sculpture Torchiere Lamp “Let There Be Neon” Rudi Stern Style This postmodern Rudi Stern style lamp has a sturdy iron base. The "Let There Be Neon" style sculptural lamp ...
Metal, Iron, Aluminum
Postmodern Lamp "Titania Terra" designed by Alberto Meda and Paolo Rizzatto
By Lucepan, Alberto Meda
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find a design classic Titania Floor Lamp, manufactured by Italian manufacturer Luceplan after a design by Alberto Meda and Paolo Rizzatto. Here in the rare T...
Aluminum
Postmodern Torchiere lamp in chrome and brass attr. to Romeo Rega, Italy 1970s
By Romeo Rega
Located in Beograd, RS
In this listing you will find an elegant and sculptural floor lamp attributed to Romeo Rega, executed in Italy during the 1970s. The design embodies the refined glamour associated wi...
Brass, Chrome
Erco Floor Lamp by Ettore Sottsass, Post-Modern Design, Germany, 1973
By Erco, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Offenburg, Baden Wurthemberg
A wonderful example of the pre-postmodern lighting is this rare floor lamp, designed by ettore Sottsass for Erco.
Steel
Postmodern "Bluebell" floorlamp by CP & PR Associati for Fontana Arte
By CP & PR Associati, Fontana Arte
Located in BE
A captivating postmodern "Bluebell" floor lamp designed by CP & PR Associati and produced by the prestigious Italian manufacturer Fontana Arte during the 1980s.
Steel
Postmodern Milo Floorlamp by Alessandro Mendini, Italy 1980s
By Alessandro Mendini, Segno
Located in Renens, CH
Postmodern floor lamp “Milo” by Alesssandro Mendini for Segno, designed and produced during the late 1980s. The lamp features a multi-coloured enamelled aluminium body with a frost...
Aluminum
Postmodern White on White Torchiere att. to Von Nessen
By Nessen Studio, Walter Von Nessen
Located in New York, NY
Chic white on white vintage torchiere floor lamp design attributed to Walter Von Nessen, maker attributed to Nessen Studios. The lamp features a conical uplight cone top, which is pe...
Metal
High Style Hollywood Regency Postmodern Brass Halogen Torchiere Made in Italy
By Karl Springer, Michael De Santis
Located in New York, NY
Elegant, sophisticated and chic, this postmodern, Hollywood Regency uplight, torchiere floor lamp is in very good, original, clean and ready to use condition, showing only light cosm...
Brass
Postmodern Stacked Wood Block Pyramid Floor or Table Lamp
Located in Jensen Beach, FL
Fabulous postmodern stacked block lamp. Custom acrylic shade has been made, can also be used with harp and shade already attached.
Wood
Pair of Postmodern Height Adjustable Mirrored Chrome Sonneman Floor Lamps
By Robert Sonneman
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
A pair of postmodern Robert Sonneman height adjustable chrome and mirror floor lamps. This wonderful pair of contemporary modern floor lamps feature an all chrome and mirror design. ...
Metal, Chrome
Postmodern Vertebrae Floor Lamp by Elio Martinelli for Martinelli Luce
By Elio Martinelli
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
1980s Postmodern Vertebrae floor lamp by Elio Martinelli Flex floor lamp, also known as Vertebrae, Model 2164 by Elio Martinelli for Martinelli Luce. The lamp is full flexible with s...
Metal
2 Postmodern 1980s Memphis Style Uplighter Floor Lamps, Torchiere, Italy, 1980s
By Martine Bedin, Memphis Milano, Michele de Lucchi, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Vienna, AT
A pair of post-modern minimalist floor lamps, made in Italy in the 1980s and very much in the spirit of Memphis Milano design. We have two identical floor lamps available, as well as...
Metal
1980s Postmodern Poul Henningsen Style Floor Lamp, Bone Enamel, Multi-Disc Shade
By Poul Henningsen
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Produced in Denmark during the 1980s, this floor lamp draws directly from Poul Henningsen's foundational multi-disc shade system while incorporating Postmodern proportions and materi...
Metal, Enamel
Postmodern design was a short-lived movement that manifested itself chiefly in Italy and the United States in the early 1980s. The characteristics of vintage postmodern furniture and other postmodern objects and decor for the home included loud-patterned, usually plastic surfaces; strange proportions, vibrant colors and weird angles; and a vague-at-best relationship between form and function.
ORIGINS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
CHARACTERISTICS OF POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGN
POSTMODERN FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW
VINTAGE POSTMODERN FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
Critics derided postmodern design as a grandstanding bid for attention and nothing of consequence. Decades later, the fact that postmodernism still has the power to provoke thoughts, along with other reactions, proves they were not entirely correct.
Postmodern design began as an architectural critique. Starting in the 1960s, a small cadre of mainly American architects began to argue that modernism, once high-minded and even noble in its goals, had become stale, stagnant and blandly corporate. Later, in Milan, a cohort of creators led by Ettore Sottsass and Alessandro Mendini — a onetime mentor to Sottsass and a key figure in the Italian Radical movement — brought the discussion to bear on design.
Sottsass, an industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, gathered a core group of young designers into a collective in 1980 they called Memphis. Members of the Memphis Group, which would come to include Martine Bedin, Michael Graves, Marco Zanini, Shiro Kuramata, Michele de Lucchi and Matteo Thun, saw design as a means of communication, and they wanted it to shout. That it did: The first Memphis collection appeared in 1981 in Milan and broke all the modernist taboos, embracing irony, kitsch, wild ornamentation and bad taste.
Memphis works remain icons of postmodernism: the Sottsass Casablanca bookcase, with its leopard-print plastic veneer; de Lucchi’s First chair, which has been described as having the look of an electronics component; Martine Bedin’s Super lamp: a pull-toy puppy on a power-cord leash. Even though it preceded the Memphis Group’s formal launch, Sottsass’s iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell with radical pops of pink neon — proves striking in any space and embodies many of the collective’s postmodern ideals.
After the initial Memphis show caused an uproar, the postmodern movement within furniture and interior design quickly took off in America. (Memphis fell out of fashion when the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990’s minimalism.) The architect Robert Venturi had by then already begun a series of plywood chairs for Knoll Inc., with beefy, exaggerated silhouettes of traditional styles such as Queen Anne and Chippendale. In 1982, the new firm Swid Powell enlisted a group of top American architects, including Frank Gehry, Richard Meier, Stanley Tigerman and Venturi to create postmodern tableware in silver, ceramic and glass.
On 1stDibs, the vintage postmodern furniture collection includes chairs, coffee tables, sofas, decorative objects, table lamps and more.
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.