achille castiglioni – DesignApplause

bough by stickbulb at luminaire. neocon 2018.

Jun 10, 2018

join us for the presentation of new bough designs during neocon at luminaire chicago opening on june 12.

in association with luminaire and their celebration of 100 years of achille castiglioni, stickbulb will present its new bough collection made from limited edition heart pine. pulled from the ruins of the storied pullman couch company factory, which famously burnt down in sub-zero temperatures, and designed by rux, the founding team behind stickbulb, the branch-like led chandeliers will hover above fragments of the demolished building and next to an illuminated mural of the structure in its final moments.

keeper of the flame: giovanna castiglioni. wanteddesign nyc 2018.

May 21, 2018

join be original for a conversation with giovanna castiglioni about her father #achillecastiglioni, his originality, and fight against plagiarists. #beoriginalusa #wanteddesign

chicago architecture biennial. 20 > 26 december 2015.

Dec 19, 2015

[ 20 > 26 december calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

‘chicago: how do you see?’ by norman kelley created an exciting feature on the windows of the chicago culture centre. photography: steve hall, copyright hedrich blessing. courtesy chicago architecture biennial

marshmellow sofa | george nelson | herman miller / 1956

[ pop art design ] an exhibition organized by the vitra design museum, one of the preeminent furniture and design museums in the world, pairs iconic design objects with artworks from this celebrated era to show the cross-pollination between these creative worlds. this glimpse of art, chairs, sofas, lamps, and even architecture during the culturally ebullient 1960s and 1970s. artists such as andy warhol, roy lichtenstein, claes oldenburg and mel ramos alongside designers such as charles eames, george nelson, ettore sottsass, achille castiglioni, and robert venturi.

event> pop art design
venue> museum of contemporary | 220 east chicago avenue
dates> 19 december 2015 > 27 march 2016

For a complete list of exhibitions, public programs, supporters, media partners and program partners, visit [ Chicago Architecture Biennial ] which launched 3 October 2015, and will run through 3 January 3 2016. @chicagobiennial @GrahamFound @ChiCulturCenter

Luminaire(x) chicago design concept shop. 22feb13.

Feb 22, 2013

click > enlarge

If you live in the Chicago metro area and you appreciate good design and a good thing, listen up. Nasir Kassamali, founder of Luminaire has created something very special. He has converted the second floor of Luminaire to accomodate, many one-of-a-kind (very rare), objects that he has had warehoused. He did it five years ago in Miami. Now until mid-May, or as long as the items last, this temporary concept shop is waiting for you.

Superleggera Chair | Gio Ponti | Cassina | 1957
Inspired by the traditional Chiavari chairs Ponti had seen at the Italian seaside, the design was meant to be so strong and so light that a child could lift it up with one finger. A child can. It’s a remarkably simple design that gains it’s appeal from it razor thin looks, and its ability to go from modest to high fashion when dressed up in color. Very rare, one left.

Puma MY-21Mid Shoe | Yashuhiro Mihara | Puma
Fusing streetwear with surfwear, Japanese designer Yashuhiro Mihara has created a line for Puma which reflects the future of urban chic. Features mesh for breathability and vinyl for an unexpected touch.

Vision | Karel Boonzaaijer and Pierre Mazairac | Pastoe | 1985
Vision (nightstands) was designed from the philosophy that a cabinet composition should be part of the total room architecture. The basis of Vision is a single cube without handles, completely mitred, and in different depths, heights and widths. Fronts close using a push-touch system. A single form yields endless variations of volume, colour and line composition. The possibilities for compositions are unlimited; from a three-dimensional relief to a graphic grid of line and flat planes, from a series of sideboards to an architectonic landscape of volumes, from wall-mounted object to wall component. Very rare, one left.

Love Letter | Castiglioni | Molo
The lamp base is the part removed from the marble base of the Arco Lamp (1962) by Flos. The “letter” itself is a light source, consisting of a bi-directional electroluminescent film that gives off light from both sides and has a surface that you can white on with a dry erase marker (or something more permanent if you are feeling committed!). The quality of light is soft, similar to candle light – just enough to keep you company. Castiglioni utilized many readily available parts to create his designs and that is reflected in this lamp by Molo. Very rare, one left.

Chicago fashion designer Andrea Reynders.

Chicago fashion designer Anke Loh.

luminaire(x) | 301 west superior / floor 2 | chicago | 312 664 9582 | mon > sat 10 > 6

Flos 50 birthday press kit. Milan 2012.

Apr 24, 2012

click > enlarge

it’s safe to say the press kit without peer this year is flos’s 50th birthday effort. the innovative usb flash drive is also jam-packed with 50 years of information and images. the kit includes historical archives, over 250 images, info on a special ipad app named flos 50, love letters, and much more. happy birthday flos!

a graphic window display announces a retrospective of 50 years of flos history. this passageway leads to the “professional space” showroom and archive exhibition.

rather than a commerative book it was decided to create an ipad app, flos 50, an exclusive virtual tour of the fifty-year history of flos.

the flos 50 app design team. details at the bottom of this post.

there are two limited edition anniversary lamps for the occasion: above> “the light photon” limited edition
o-led table lamp designed by philippe starck; also the new “arco led” floor lamp, its best-known lamp by achille castiglioni.

within the press kit are images of 150 products. above> ‘luminator” by achille and pier giacomo castiglioni.

within the press kit are “love letters” from designers. above> achille castiglioni.

[ flos 50 app credits ]
project and art direction: ramak fazel
graphic design: neil donnely
flos 50 history: stefano casciani
product photography: piero fasanotto
illustrations: nico k. tucci
chief archivist: cicci pezzolo
development: mobile dream studio
additional support: flos historical archives
special thanks: piera pezzolo gandini

[ flos timeline ]
1962 – Flos is founded in Merano, 28 September. First board meeting appoints advisors Achille Castiglioni, Arturo Eisenkeil, Sergio Biliotti, Dino Gavina and Cesare Cassina
1964 – Sergio Gandini joins board of directors and is elected Chairman
1964 – company moves offices and factory to Nave (near Brescia)
1968 – Milan Corso Monforte 9 store opens. Design by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
1970 – first Flos catalogue published. Graphic design by Max Huber
1971 – Rome Via del Babuino 85 showroom opens
1971 – first European subsidiary starts operations in Germany
1972 – Turin Galleria Subalpina store opens. Design by Achille Castiglioni
1974 – acquisition of Arteluce, a lighting company established in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti
1975 – Flos is a first time exhibitor in the lighting section at Milan’s Salone del Mobile. Stand designed by Achille Castiglioni
1976 – factory moves from Nave to Bovezzo (Brescia)
1979 – Parentesi lamp by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù awarded Compasso d’Oro
1980 – new Milan Corso Monforte 7 offices open. Design by Achille Castiglioni, floor design by Max Huber
1988 – collaboration with Philippe Starck begins
1994 – Drop lamp by Marc Sadler awarded Compasso d’Oro
1995 – Flos receives Compasso d’Oro lifetime achievement award
1996 – Piero Gandini, Sergio’s son, becomes Managing Director of Flos SpA
1996 – Light Contract division set up, to develop turnkey projects

[ edited official press release ]
Milan, 18 April 2012 – On the occasion of Salone del Mobile 2012, Piero Gandini, Chairman and Managing Director of international lighting leader FLOS SpA, gets the celebrations under way to mark the company’s fiftieth anniversary, with a special event in Milan and the launch of a remarkable iPad application. Looking ahead to its next fifty years, Flos also announces some important novelties on the technology front with an exclusive agreement to use revolutionary bio-polymers, and the production of a special Limited Edition O-LED lamp.

Established in Merano on 28 September 1962 by far-sighted visionaries Dino Gavina, Arturo Eiseinkeil and Cesare Cassina, in 1964 Flos – which in Latin means ‘flower’ – moved to the Brescia area under the guidance of Sergio Gandini, the ‘illuminated’ entrepreneur who drew on the creative skills of an image committee formed of legendary talents such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, and Tobia Scarpa. So began a remarkable story of passion and devotion to hard work, research and innovation. But first and foremost there has always been, at the centre of the Flos story, deep respect for values like talent, art and culture, all of which can now been looked at in more detail with the help of the Flos Historical Archive, curated by Piera Pezzolo Gandini, Sergio’s wife, Piero’s mother and the worthy winner of a Compasso d’Oro in 2011 for her remarkable career. With the help of a team of professionals and friends, for the last six years Piera Pezzolo has undertaken meticulous research, restoration and classification work to bring together prototypes, designs, original drawings, packaging, graphics, advertising, photographs, film clips, books, catalogues, awards and appearances at trade fairs, exhibitions and museums. The archive takes various forms: multimedia, paper and collections of products and objects.

[ the flos 50 app ] Driven by the desire to grant the public access to this treasure trove of information assembled by his mother, Piero Gandini engaged Ramak Fazel, a photographer and artist of Persian origin, for the creative direction of a tool that could convey not only the sensory appeal of these historical objects, but also the emotions and passions they recalled.

The various “chapters” about the history of the company – more than 40 in all – are represented graphically in the app as archive binders. The first one users encounter is an in-depth social and cultural analysis edited by writer, journalist and historian Stefano Casciani, which covers the period from the years immediately preceding the foundation of the company to the present day. Nineteen binders are devoted to the designers who have worked with the company: Barber & Osgerby, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Antonio Citterio, Paul Cocksedge, Tim Derhaag, Rodolfo Dordoni, Thierry Dreyfus, Ron Gilad, Konstantin Grcic, Johanna Grawunder, Joris Laarman, Piero Lissoni, Jasper Morrison, Marc Newson, Tobia Scarpa, Philippe Starck, Patricia Urquiola and Marcel Wanders. They each sent Flos a very personal ‘love letter’, which is presented to users in the form of the original document, expressing emotions, memories, gratitude and best wishes for the past fifty years and those to come.

Developed by Mobile Dream Studio in Paris, the application has an innovative interface featuring dynamic images, animations, original video content and surprising interactions. From a 360 degree panoramic view of the archive room – the actual historical archive located in Piera Pezzolo Gandini’s family home in Brescia – users can open two doors to enter the secret, intimate worlds of two key figures in the company’s formation and development: Achille Castiglioni, the designer of more iconic lamps in the Flos catalogue than anyone else and a beacon for the company until his death in 2002, and Philippe Starck, who began working with Flos in 1988, introducing revolutionary concepts to the Italian industrial design. These two legendary figures are celebrated by two specially made videos. The first, by Andrea Caccia, documents a very intimate visit to Achille Castiglioni’s studio in Piazza Castello, Milan. It’s a poetic and nostalgic film, but one which also conjures up the joy and vitality that Castiglioni conveyed naturally by the way he lived. In the second, produced by Urubu Film, Starck and Piero Gandini tour Paris at dawn on a motorcycle, revealing the depth of their mutual esteem and friendship, and talking about light, which for both of them, at an unconscious level, symbolises life.

Other sections in the app include a touching tribute by Piero Gandini to his father Sergio, who continues to be the company’s spiritual guide even after his death in 1999; the graphical history of the Flos logo, from the original design by Heinz Waibl to subsequent versions by Max Huber, Pino Tovaglia and Bruno Le Moult; the Corso Monforte store window in Milan, an impactful brand’s communication machine, with past displays designed by Achille Castiglioni and subsequently by other great collaborators, including Italo Lupi and Bruno Le Moult. Here can be also seen the covers of all the company’s catalogues over the years; financial information and interesting facts and figures from the company’s fifty-year history; and Flos showrooms and single-brand stores throughout the world – represented by a Glo-ball lamp. Also documented here is the lucky encounter with Federico Martinez and Spanish company Antares, leading to the creation of Flos Architectural Lighting.

[ three themes for the future ]
New Tasks – The first task that Flos intends to accomplish is to introduce increasingly environment-friendly industrial production techniques. An important agreement with bio-on to reissue lamps manufactured until now in plastic material, like Miss Sissi by Philippe Starck or Piani by brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, using the new PHAs bio-polymer, which is 100% naturally biodegradable in water, makes Flos very proud to bring a total revolution in the relationship between mass production and environment.
New Technologies – The perfection of O-LED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology, a carbon and hydrogen source formed of ultra-thin sheets which are 100% recyclable like glass, opens up amazing possibilities for transforming light in new ways. Flos sets an example with the Light Photon lamp by Philippe Starck, which is being produced for the company’s anniversary celebrations in a limited edition of 500.
New Talents – Our real future is vested in the next generation, which will produce the new talents of tomorrow. Now more than ever, learning the lessons taught by its past, Flos undertakes to support and encourage the most promising young designers.

Available for download free of charge from the App Store starting late in April, FLOS 50 will establish an ongoing conversation with its public through frequent, original updates, news items, materials, games and entertainment ideas. [ flos ] [ o-led ] [ bio-on ]

Lighting up l.a. Flos.

Dec 1, 2011

click > enlarge all images

Few streets in Los Angeles are lined with boutiques as tony as those on Robertson Boulevard. While the street is still associated as a fashion destination littered with paparazzos aiming for starlets in stride with their Grande Macchiatos, the fabled street just got one shop closer to being known as a genuine design destination with today’s opening of Flos by The Diva Group.

The Italian lighting company originally founded in 1962, well known for their partnerships with distinguished designers such as Philippe Starck, Jasper Morrison, Marcel Wanders and Marc Newson, will also be opening a boutique in San Francisco this week to serve as their two west coast outposts in the United States. In addition, Flos has a store in New York City, as well as several other stores in Europe and Asia and work with retailers all over the world.

d’e light | philippe starck

When walking through the newly minted Los Angeles boutique, one is filled with pure wonderment. Flos’ newest designs, like the 2012 D’E-Light by Philippe Starck, a task light which includes a continuous LED and an iPod dock on its top, grabs attention as much as a futuristic gadget as it does for its beautiful form. In addition to the newest technological advancements in lighting, Flos is dedicated to their stable of classics like the iconic Arco floor lamp designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1962 as well as more obscure designs, like the kite-like Ariette wall lamp designed by Tobia Scarpa in 1973. Without a thorough knowledge in design history, it is quite difficult to correctly identify the design year or even decade of many of the Flos inventory; their entire fleet exudes freshness, modernity and relevance.

arco light | achille and pier giacomo castiglioni

ariette light | tobia scarpa

ron gilad | wall piercing

designer ron gilad

The show-stopper at the Los Angeles store, however, is surely Ron Gilad’s ambient installation on the back wall of the store entitled Wall Piercing, which intertwines panels and panels of tube lighting into one seamless backdrop. The piece can come in several configurations and includes the ability for several colors to rotate and several options for degrees of light intensities. Gilad was in from Brooklyn to speak about his inspiration, “I wanted to work with the minimum container that could encapsulate the LED and then interpret it through my language, which is lines.” Recently this piece, originally designed in 2010, was accepted into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as The Art Institute of Chicago.