Flos
The beginnings of Flos (meaning “flower” in Latin) blossomed from a brilliant idea: to create objects, starting with a light bulb, that would change the way of life for both the Italian market and the foreign markets.
Dino Gavina and the small Eisenkeil manufacturing facility in Merano, had already been creating furniture alongside design masters such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Afra and Tobia Scarpa. But by the early ‘60s, Gavina became convinced the time had come to create new lamps.
Using the same technology – conceived in the USA and tested at Eisenkeil – used for the Cocoon lampthe Castiglioni brothers and the Scarpa duo began creating lamps such as the Taraxacum or the Fantasma, with many other beautiful and surprising lamps to follow.
And so, from day one, Flos was already reinventing the idea of artificial lighting.
Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1913. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano University with a degree in architecture in 1937. That same year, he established the Architecture, Urban Buildings, and Research into Industrial Design practice with his brother Livio. In 1944, his brother Achille joined the practice.
Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano University with a degree in architecture in the late 1930s and, shortly after, set up a design office with his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo in Milan.
There, he dedicated himself to experimenting with industrial products. Achille, along with his brothers, went on to become one of the most renowned industrial designers in post-war Italy. He was one of the founding members of Association for Industrial Design (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, ADI), established in 1956.
His works are included in permanent collections in museums all around the world, including 14 pieces at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The designer has won nine “Compasso d′Oro” awards, including a special mention as an individual dedicated to industrial design who, by means of his incomparable experience, “elevated industrial design to the highest levels of culture,” in 1989.
In his lifetime, he designed and collaborated on close to 150 objects. Many of Achille Castiglioni’s lighting products are still in production today.
FLOS favorites by Achille Castiglioni: AOY, Arco, Gatto, Lampadina, Snoopy, Taccia, Toio, Viscontea, Stylos and Ventos
