Ping-Pong Wall Lamps by Masanori Umeda for Iguzzini, 1979

From his cheerful Getsuen Lily chair to his provocative Ginza robot cabinet, Masanori Umeda’s furniture designs are often described by critics and collectors alike as poetic, ironic and full of whimsy. 

Umeda was born in 1941 in Kanagawa, graduating from Tokyo’s Kuwasawa Design School in 1962. In 1967, he moved to Milan, Italy, where he began his design career working in the studio of Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. From 1970 to 1979, Umeda was a design consultant for the Olivetti studio, and there he met prolific furniture designer and architect Ettore Sottsass, who founded the Memphis Group, Italy's boldest, brashest postmodern design movement.

In the early 1980s, Umeda joined Memphis, creating his most famous piece, the Tawayara boxing ring seating unit in 1981. Comprising a monochrome, Tatami matte floor, tie-dyed cushions, bungee-style ropes and flexible lighting at each of the four corners, the Tawayara was Umeda’s homage to space-constrained Japanese living areas. It remains one of Umeda’s rarest pieces (only 30 were ever made). Fashion designer and icon Karl Lagerfeld once owned a Tawayara boxing ring that featured prominently in his Monaco apartment.

In 1986, Umeda returned to Japan and opened his U-MetaDesign Studio (now Umeda Design Studio Inc.) in Tokyo, garnering accolades for his uniquely lighthearted collection of armchairs, lounge chairs, table lamps and decorative objects.

Over the course of his career, Umeda has won several awards, including the BraunPrize in 1968, the Grand Prix of Japan Display Design Award in 1981, the Japan Commercial Space Design Award in 1984 and the Grand Prix of Good Design Award in 1990.

Umeda continues to design furnishings that embody the spirit of postmodernism, enjoying collaborations with Memphis Milano and Italian furniture manufacturer Edra. His pieces have been exhibited internationally and are held in the collections of museums around the world, including the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, which acquired more than 180 of his works in 2015. 

On 1stDibs, find a range of vintage Masanori Umeda seating, lighting and serveware.

It seems that Italian lighting company iGuzzini rebranded many times in the 20th century, going by, at various points, Harvey Creazioni, Illuminazione Guzzini and Guzzini. It began as Harvey Guzzini.

Harvey Guzzini may sound like a single designer, but it was actually a mid-century firm started by six brothers in the Guzzini family: Giovanni, Raimondo, Giuseppe, Adolfo, Virgilio and Giannunzio. The first part of the name was an homage to the 1950 film Harvey.

The Harvey Guzzini brand produced a range of fixtures during the postwar years, including table lamps, floor lamps and pendant lights. 

Harvey Guzzini was founded in 1959 in a room of Giovanni's home in the town of Recanati. Initially, the company was focused on making copper decorative objects. The brothers quickly established their own studio space and, in 1963, they expanded into lighting production. The following year, they hired prolific Italian designer Luigi Massoni as head of design. In addition to Harvey Guzzini, Massoni was involved with many of Italy’s most influential brands, such as Poltrona Frau and Alessi. 

Another key to the growing success of Harvey Guzzini was partnerships with a number of Italy's most prominent designers, including Gio Ponti, Fabio Lenci, Rodolfo Bonetto, Cesare Casati and Ennio Lucini.

From 1967 to 1968, Harvey Guzzini also participated in “Domus: Formes Italiennes,” an exhibition held at the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. By 1969, the company had grown into one of the best-known design firms in the country and opened a retail outlet in central Milan. Famous Harvey Guzzini designs include Massoni and Luciano Buttura's Mushroom table lamp (1965) as well as the in-house designed Arc floor lamp (1968), Faro table lamp (1970) and Toledo table lamp (1973). 

In 1974, Harvey Guzzini rebranded as iGuzzini. The company introduced a range of new and technically advanced lighting fixtures, including low-voltage halogen lamps. In 1977, iGuzzini organized the first Italian lighting design conference. In 1991, it was awarded the Compasso d'Oro for its commitment to design.

Today, iGuzzini remains headquartered in Recanati and is a leading international architectural lighting group with a rich heritage spanning more than six decades since its early days as Harvey Guzzini. The company creates lighting fixtures for workplaces, city infrastructure and even cultural heritage sites.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage iGuzzini table lamps, floor lamps and other lighting.