PrimoPiano Modern Lighting

A pair of Minikini table lamps in white-cream enameled metal and in black enameled metal. The Minikini is a lamp with a clean and refined design, highly versatile, and also with an ...

Table lamp with structure in brass, and lampshade in red-painted aluminum designed by Angelo Lelii, Italian Manufacture 1950s. Licterature: Domus n.288, November 1953, p. 35; C. & P. Fiell, 1000 lights 1878 to 1959, Taschren, Koln, 2005, p. 489 A. Pansera, A. Padoan, A. Palmaghini, Arredoluce catalogue 1943-1987, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, 2018, p. 281 Paolo Angelo Lelii was born in 1915 in Ancona but very soon he moved with his family to Milan, and some time later he moved to Monza with his wife, where he began manufacturing lamps in his house in 1943 and that in 1946 he advertised his Tris lamp at the Domus magazine. It was in 1947 that he founded Arredoluce, a premier manufacturer of furniture and lighting, in Monza. During the same year, at the VIII Triennale di Milano, he exhibited the lamp 12128, which became known as the Triennale floor lamp. He became an influential designer in postwar Italy, especially in the field of modern lighting design. During the 1950s, Arredoluce started to collaborate with such designers as Franco Albini, Achille Castiglioni, Gio Ponti, Ettore Sottsass, and Nanda Vigo and also began to experiment with halogen light bulbs for its designs. Out of this experimentation, Lelii increased the use of transformers for his designs and created the recognizable floor switch used in most of Arredoluce’s floor lamps. Angelo Lelii’s lamps and lighting objects stand out for their extremely simple designs that strive for minimal complexity and for their strong sense of unadorned sensitivity. Thanks to Angelo Lelii’s unique approach to lighting design, Arredoluce quickly built a reputation for creating premium quality lights based on clean, simple, and functional designs. The most well-known designs of Angelo Lelii are the Triennale floor lamp model 12128 (1947) and the Cobra table lamp (1964), which became famous for its unique shape and for the low voltage used by incorporating the transformer in its base. His other iconic lights are the Tris lamp (1946), the Eye floor light (1950), the Stella ceiling light...

Ceiling or Hanging lamp from the 'Membrane' series, designed by Toni Zuccheri and created between 1966 and 1968 by the famous Italian company Venini. The lamp presents a round sha...

Ara table or desk lamp in polished chrome provides direct illumination. The head adjusts to direct lighting at a 90-degree angle. Designed by Philippe Starck in 1988 for Flos. Measurements: Height: 55 – 56.5 cm Lampshade: 27.5 cm Base: Ø 17.5 cm Philippe Starck was born in Paris, France in 1949. He is the son of André Starck, an aeronautical engineer and founder of Avions André Starck (airplane designer) and Jacqueline Lanourisse. Philippe Starck began his schooling at the Notre-Dame de Sainte-Croix institution in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. He then studied at the Camondo school in Paris, under the leadership of Henry Malvaux. Starck designed an inflatable structure in 1969, initiating a reflection on materiality, and showed an interest in places to live. Shortly after, Pierre Cardin offered him the post of artistic director of his publishing house. At the same time, he founded his first Industrial Design agency, Starck Product. He renamed it into Ubik6 in reference to the famous novel by Philip Kindred Dick. He began his collaborations with Alessi, Aprilia, Disform, Driade, Drimmer, Fossil, Kartell and Vitra. Philippe Starck has designed several hotels around the globe and also Steve Jobs‘s yacht, Venus. In the 1980s a long and exclusive collaboration with Flos begins, which sheds light on a series of international successes also called cult objects such as this ARA’ table lamp, the Miss Sissi table lamp (1991), the Rosy Angelis...

A rare Mid-Century Modern table or desk lamp with a stem in metal, a base, and a lampshade in red lacquered metal. Manufactured in Italy during the 1950s. .

Desk lamp model 665 or Zeta in white lacquered and chromed metal. It presents a double arm formed by two metal rods anchored to the rectangular base, and an adjustable diffuser in white lacquered aluminium that it's rotatable at 360° The lamp was produced by the Italian company Martinelli...

Coupè floor lamp with a structure in white lacquered metal, designed by Joe Colombo and manufactured by Oluce in 1967, circa Italy. Measures: Height: 175 cm Width: 140 cm Lampshade diameter 40 cm Lamp base 30 x 32 cm Joe Colombo born Cesare Colombo, was an important Italian designer, architect and artist. Renowned for his embrace of modern technologies and for the potential he saw in modular furniture and designs, Colombo created a body of furnishings that spoke to the energy and excitement over the potential of the Space Age. Colombo was born and raised in Milan. Joe first in a first time decided to pursue an artistic career by enrolling in Milan’s Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. But after a couple of years at the Accademia, he transferred to Politecnico di Milano, where he studied architecture and graduated in 1954. During his studies at the Accademia, he befriended artists Sergio Dangelo and Enrico Baj, who had been influential in the creation of the avant-garde Movimento Nucleare, a group whose aim was to transform the art of painting in response to the tensions of the modern nuclear age. Until 1958, Colombo worked mainly as an Abstract Expressionist painter and sculptor and thrived on the Movimiento Nucleare group’s energy and intensity, which fueled in his work a fascination with an almost futurist aesthetic. In 1959, Joe Colombo’s father died, and he decided to run the family electrical appliance business while experimenting with new manufacturing methods and materials. This new and unexpected experience influenced him to switch from painting to architecture and design, where his fascination with futuristic themes not only remained intact but found a new invigorating venue. In fact, one of his first design projects was a series of installation works made from television sets that were assembled in the form of shrines; the work was exhibited at the 1954 Triennale di Milano. Colombo decided to open his own design studio in Milan in 1962, entering the busiest phase of his career as he designed furniture, lighting, interiors, and glassware. Also in 1962, Joe and his brother Gianni designed for Oluce the Acrilica lamp...

Set of two wall lamps model 238/2 with supports in white painted metal, lampshades in blown glass and white enameled aluminum, designed by Gino Sarfatti and produced by Arteluce duri...

Chandelier with three lampshades in opaline glass and a structure in enameled and nickel-plated metal. Manufactured by Stilnovo in 1970s Italy. Stilnovo was an important lighting c...

Mid-Century Modern ceiling lamp with five lampshades in chromed metal and lucite plexiglass. Designed by Gaetano Missaglia and manufactured in Italy during the 1970s. Acrylic, also known as the brand names lucite or Plexiglas, was developed in the 1930s. Its scientific name is Poly(methyl methacrylate), or PMMA, and it is a type of thermoplastic, which is a plastic Material that is moldable at extremely hot temperatures and solid once cool. The company that created acrylic licensed it in two ways; first as Plexiglas to be a glass replacement, and afterwards as lucite for commercial uses in 1937. Commercially, lucite was used in jewelry, handbags, and cosmetics packaging. Plexiglas, in comparison, was often used for larger projects, such as aircraft windows, lenses for lighthouses, and aquariums. Before it was used widespread for furniture, acrylic was being utilized for military purposes, as wartime was quickly approaching. During World War 2 (1939-1945), the country’s resources were mostly directed to military uses, and acrylic was no different. Acrylic, as Plexiglas, was used to help the military, including as airplane windshields and submarine periscopes. Despite that, some people began using acrylic to make furniture. In 1939, Helena Rubinstein, a wildly successful cosmetics mogul and art collector, commissioned to Ladislas Medgyesan an entire suite of acrylic furnishings for her NYC apartment, including an illuminated acrylic bed in her bedroom and acrylic chairs for business meetings. When the war ended in 1945, acrylic was ready to be worked with in design on a larger scale. The company licensed lucite widely, making it much more available across every industry. It steadily gained momentum in the world of design, with artists and designers being inspired by its moldability and translucense. In 1959, French designer Erwine Laverne told a New York Times reporter, “The most important element in rooms is people, not furniture,” speaking to the growing popularity and importance of the clear furniture. But acrylic furniture hit its peak popularity in the 1960s and ‘70s, as more acrylic furniture designers and artists entered the scene. Glass artists began to take more of an interest in acrylics, especially taking advantage of acrylic’s flexibility, light weight, cost, and capacity to refract and filter light. Designers like John Mascheroni and Charles Hollis Jones, known as the Godfather of lucite, created iconic pieces that still look beautiful in today’s modern home. Designers and artists alike loved the durability and look of acrylic. As Charles Hollis Jones put in an interview with Ravelin Magazine, “I worked a lot with lucite when I first started. When I worked with the company that wanted me to go to Europe, they had me work with glass, ceramic, enamel. I went over there and the glass was always in the wrong color and it always broke. When the earthquakes came, I got visual proof of that. I like to work with acrylic because it does two wonderful things that glass doesn’t. It’s shatter-proof, first of all. I can also change the microstructure and make it one-tenth the strength of steel. And the most important thing it does: it carries light. Glass reflects light. lucite holds it and carries it. If you play with it, you can make a lens to look at something in space. It’s that good. It’s purer than crystal.” In fact, acrylic was often used in chandeliers as well, mixed with other materials to make incredible striking designs that would have been much more difficult to achieve with glass. Recently, acrylic furniture has once again risen in popularity. While many of the designs are timeless, more designers are coming forward with acrylic furniture for the modern home. In 2002, designer Philippe Starck introduced his Louis Ghost Chair, and the trend has only grown from there. You’ll now find entirely acrylic pieces of home furnishings and accessories, as well as acrylic-detailed furniture all across the market. With so many designs, options, and knock-offs all across the market, we at clear home design...

Table Lamp in red lacquered stainless steel produced by Studio Set in 1970s Italy.

Coupè or 3320R arched floor lamp with semispherical lampshade in withe lacquered aluminum, stem in chromed metal and base in white lacquered aluminum. Designed by Joe Colombo and ma...

Lesbo table lamp with a polished metal base with a diffuser made of a single hand blown Murano glass element. The beautiful shape of the diffuser and the peculiar white-transparent s...

Atollo table lamp in white lacquered metal, designed by Vico Magistretti in 1977 and produced by Oluce. Source bulb: 2 x max 100 W E27 - universal dimmer Atollo has emerged as the...

Blitz table lamp in green lacquered metal was designed by Trabucchi, Vecchi, and Volpi and produced by Stilnovo in the 1970s. The manufacturer's label and stamped logo is present on...

Floor lamp model 399 (from cornalux series) with structure in nickel-plated metal, lacquered metal and cast iron. The lamp bulb is adjustable in height achieved by a bracket that allows the lamp to be slid up and down the lamp stem. This lamp was designed by the Italian duo formed by Angelo Ostuni & Renato Forti and manufactured by O-Luce in 1958. Measurements: H 141 x Ø 24 diameter (base 20cm). Founded in 1945 by Giuseppe Ostuni, Oluce is the oldest Italian design company still operating in the lighting world, a unique production excellence which translates passionate aesthetic and technological research into the potential of light into actual form. Over the years, Oluce has succeeded in building a collection structured like a tale, rich and multifaceted, inhabited by products that transcend fashion to become Italian design icons. Its relationship with the design world begins In 1951, Oluce successfully took part in the IX Triennale, presenting – in the lighting section curated by Achille, Livio and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni – a Luminator designed by Franco Buzzi. As was typical at that time, the company instantly gained visibility on the international panorama thanks to Domus magazine. Major success was then reasserted by Tito Agnoli with nominations at the second edition of the Compasso d’Oro awards, in 1955, for his two lamps (the 363 floor lamp and a special bookshelf model). In 1956 these were followed in rapid succession by two more nominations: one for a remarkable table lamp in polyvinyl slats and another for a pendant lamp (mod. 4461) with double perspex shade. Then, there was the noteworthy 255/387 lamp (known as ”Agnoli”), a spot light supported...

A rare ceiling lamp or chandelier (model Step) with a semisphere lampshade in black lacquered aluminum, it was designed by Elio Martinelli and produced by the Italian company, Martinelli Luce during the 1970s. The concentric shapes repeated in a precise sequence, from which the Step lamp is structured, reveal an attitude of the designer in search of geometric essentiality. It is a lamp characterized by simple and functional lines in which all the elements are inserted into each other reducing to a disk a few centimeters high, with closing system and telescopic opening. Its particular metal lamellar structure recalls some of the most famous lamps by Alvar Aalto and the hexagonal lamp designed in 1959 by Bruno Munare for Danese. Literature: Emiliana Martinelli, Elio Martinelli e Martinelli...

A rare ceiling lamp or chandelier (model Step) with a semisphere lampshade in white lacquered aluminum, it was designed by Elio Martinelli and produced by the Italian company, Martinelli Luce during the 1970s. The concentric shapes repeated in a precise sequence, from which the Step lamp is structured, reveal an attitude of the designer in search of geometric essentiality. It is a lamp characterized by simple and functional lines in which all the elements are inserted into each other reducing to a disk a few centimeters high, with closing system and telescopic opening. Its particular metal lamellar structure recalls some of the most famous lamps by Alvar Aalto and the hexagonal lamp designed in 1959 by Bruno Munare for Danese. Literature: Emiliana Martinelli, Elio Martinelli e Martinelli...

Elegant abat-jour table lamp in satin murano glass “a bolle” with brass details. The conical lampshade diffuses a beautiful indirect light that valorize the room. Label inside the ...

The hanging lamp model "KD 6” was designed by the brothers Castiglioni and was among the first lamps produced by the famous Italian company Kartell. KD 6 lamp ...

Table lamp or desk lamp model 546 with lampshade in lacquered aluminum, stem in chromed brass, base in lacquered cast-iron, and opaline glass diffuser. This lamp was designed by Gio Ponti and manufactured by Ugo Pollice Illuminazione during the 1940s. Gio Ponti was an icon of the modernist movement: the Italian designer, architect, artist and publisher contributed significantly to the worlds of architecture and design with his extensive work in Fine furniture and ceramics, education, office and residential buildings, and everything in between. Gio Ponti was born in 1891 in Milan. It was there that he spent his childhood, and in 1921 he began to study architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. From 1923 to 1930 he served as the artistic director of the Richard-Ginori porcelain factory. In 1927, Ponti started his first architectural office, together with Emilio Lancia, and in 1928 he started the magazine Domus, which is still regarded as one of the most influential European magazines for architecture and design. He was also very influential during the period as a curator of the Milan Triennale. After his collaboration with Emilio Lancia had come to an end, upon completion of the Torre Rasini, he began to work as an architect together with the engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini...

Alda wall lamp in rubber and steel rod, designed by Gaetano Pesce and realized in 2004. The lamp has a US plug (type A) Gaetano Pesce is a prominent contemporary Italian designer and architect known for his bold experimentation with materials and color. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with some of Italy's leading design companies, including Artemide, Vitra, Cassina, and B&B Italia. Born in 1939 in La Spezia, near Genoa, Pesce enrolled at the University of Venice in 1959 to study architecture and graduated in 1965. During the final years of his studies, he also participated in courses at the Venice College of Industrial Design, where he was influenced by distinguished faculty members like Ernesto Nathan Rogers and Mario Bellini. Encouraged by their teachings to embrace innovation in modern design, Pesce became involved with an avant-garde architectural collective called “Gruppo N,” which drew inspiration from the streamlined aesthetics of the Bauhaus. These diverse inspirations equipped Pesce to embrace contemporary materials and explore the forms they enabled. His designs range from small decorative objects to large architectural spaces and reflect deep contemplation of the modern era. Notable works include his iconic La Mamma chair...

Set of two wall lamps model 238/2 with supports in black lacquered metal, lampshades in blown glass, and black enameled aluminum, designed by Gino Sarfatti and produced by Arteluce d...

Oracolo floor lamp with a cilindical basement in brown lacquered metal with a pierced stainless steel section, and a blown glass diffuser. This lamp was designed by Gae Aulenti in ...

Set of two table lamps model 214 also known as Vipere with structure in brass and lampshade in red lacquered metal, designed by Giuseppe Ostuni and produced by Oluce in the 1950s. ...

Bilia table lamp with a black lacquered metal conical base connected with a spherical shade in blown opaline glass. This is an iconic lamp based on two essential shapes which mixed ...

Table or desk lamp with basement in black lacquered metal, stem in chromed metal and black lacquered metal, and a circular lampshade in red lacquered metal, designed by Oscar Torlasc...

Arenzano floor lamp with a brass stem, a round-shaped base in black marble, and three lampshades in opaline glass. This lamp has an elegant structure in tubular brass, curved and...

Floor lamp model Bridge was designed by the Aroldi brothers, Danilo and Corrado, in the early 1970s and produced by the famous Italian company Stilnovo. The lampshade is in chromed metal fully swivel and directable in multiple ways, movable chrome stem, and a tubular frame in white lacquered metal. Circular base in metal e...

Table or desk lamp with structure and lampshade entirely realized in chromed steel, it as a part of the AM/AS series designed by the iconic duo Franco Albini and Franca Helg and manu...

Shogun floor lamp with black and white lacquered metal stem, adjustable diffuser in painted perforated plate steel, and a base in cast iron designed by Mario Botta in 1986 and produc...

A 6740 table lamp is part of the Kaiser iDell series designed by Christian Dell in the 1930s and produced by Kaiser Leuchten, Germany. This lamp has become a symbol of German desig...

Set of two Foglio wall lamps in nickel-plated metal designed by Tobia Scarpa in 1966 and produced by Flos. Both lamps were part of the first production characterized by heavy metal instead of the lighter aluminum used in the most recently produced Foglio lamps...

Nictea pendant lamp in nickel-plated brass, and glass was designed by Tobia Scarpa in 1961 and produced by Flos. The Nictea lamp gives filtered and concentrated light thanks to the ...

Pendant lamp with structure in lacquered metal and brass and five diffusers in opaline glass. This lamp was manufactured by the Italian company Stilnovo during the 1960s. Stilnovo w...

Pipistrello table or floor lamp with a base in white lacquered aluminum, extensible telescopic structure in stainless steel, and white opal methacrylate diffuser. It was designed by ...

Taccia table lamp with base in polished and nickel-plated steel, and a black lacquered aluminum body. The adjustable light diffuser was made in hand-blown glass with a lacquered whit...