In my recent post about trends, I identified several companies that are re-editing classic lights from the past. But some are doing even more—they are bringing back whole brands! So today we're going to look at two of them: Stilnovo and Arredoluce. Along the way, we'll discover who started trends that are still current.
Stilnovo
Stilnovo was founded in 1946 and closed in 1988. During those 42 years, they were so influential that the name, Stilnovo, came to define a style of mid-century avant-garde Italian lighting. Just how in demand such vintage lights are is demonstrated by there being 804 results when I last searched for Stilnovo on 1st Dibs. A definition of a design classic is one which is worth more second-hand than it cost new!
The brand was relaunched during Euroluce in 2019 by Linea Light Group, a major Italian architctural lighting Italian brand. They say, "a legendary brand to which the most important names in design have contributed, today meets the cutting-edge technology and solidity of Linea Light Group".
So let's look at some the designs that they have brought back, and who designed them. We'll start with pendants.
Triedro Joe Colombo 1970
Triedro is the light featured on the cover of the Stilnovo book you are most likely to have in your studio library:
That the editors at Electa chose Triedro to represent Stilnovo makes sense: it is by Joe Colombo, who designed several light families for Stilnovo, notably Topo. The components are unambiguously shown, from the folded metal of the "shade", to the wires and structure. Form is (sort of) following function. It is clearly "modern", industrial. As a pendant, Triedro is usually hung in clusters:
There is also a wall light.
Though such characteristics became common, the design itself did not spawn a trend, unlike...
Sputnik Stilnovo 1957
It looks cool in black, sophisticated in a pale colour...
...and fun when multicoloured:
In fact, playful use of colour is another Stilnovo characteristic (and another current trend, of course!).
Megafono Stilnovo 1958
Asked to draw a mid-century light, you might come up with something like Megafono (Delightfull et al certainly would), such has been its influence.
There is also a task light:
Galassia Stilnovo 1959
Whereas almost anybody asked to draw a current contemporary light would certainly come up with something like Galassia! And you thought ballsonsticks® was a recent cliché!
Actually, it's a really good design. The family includes a smaller chandelier, a floor light and wall lights.
There are two versions of the double one—a left and a right.
(BTW, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with ballsonsticks®. it's just that they are so ubiquitous. And as every Chinese factory does them, there are lots of cheap, lazy, tired, boring versions.)
Saliscendi Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni 1957
Nowadays we concentrate on the look, the style of these mid-century designs. But that must never obscure the fact that the people who designed them intended to use new technologies to create luminaires that are efficient. This is one of the reasons they become classics. Remember, most Italian product designers were trained as architects. Architecture and design were taught together—Achille Castiglioni used to say that Italian design was so good because there were no design schools.
So Saliscendi is a very practical, versatile light. See above: the two elements move in opposite directions, diffusing more direct or indirect light depending upon the distance by which they are separated. Though it was designed for the Milan Chamber of Commerce building, it is also ideal for the domestic kitchen table which, during a 24 hour day, is used for so many different purposes. And it looks good!
I've concentrated on pendants because that's what you most often come to us for. But it is table lights which give designers the most freedom, where they can have the most fun, and create the most distinctive designs.
For example...
Valigia Ettore Sottsass 1977
So you could pick it up by the handle, like a suitcase, and run off with it...
...(if it were not tethered by the mains cable).
It's still functional, though. It could be used wherever you want light going downwards, with no risk of glare. And there is design content as well:
Sort of a blind alley though, unlike Fante.
Fante Jonathan De Pas, Donato D'Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi 1978
Fante is anthropomorphic, and in a cheerful way. You move the hat on the lamp to cast the light where it is wanted, No complicated structure of springs, wires &c. is required. It is truly minimal: like the Catalan classic Gira, now made by Santa & Cole, it has its adjustable shade sitting directly on the lamp. And the playful evoking of a little person is picked up by Nemo in Mr. Light, and Anna Lari in King & Queen, to give just two examples.
Buonanotte Giovanni Luigi Gorgoni 1965
Another practical, minimal and colourful design. By moving the panels, you increase or decrease the amount of light given out:
There are enough descendants of Buonanotte to fill a complete email! But, as a taster, Vico Magistretti's Eclisse for Artemde of the same year? Voon Wong & Benson Saw's Loop, taken on by FontanaArte in 2003? Andreas Engevik's Blom, also from FonatanaArte, of 2013? (But Charlotte Perriand's Applique à Volet Pivotant, now made by Nemo, is earlier—1962.)
So far, we've seen works by Joe Colombo, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Ettore Sottsass. Other designers who created pieces for Stilnovo include Gae Aulenti, Angelo Mangiarotti—and Gaetano Sciolari. If ever there was a lighting designer whose works cry out to be reintroduced into someone's catalogue, it is Gaetano Sciolari. Well, and Mathieu Matégot. And Max Ingrand (come on FontanaArte!). And any of the great arts and crafts architects, of course....
Arredoluce
Arredoluce was founded by Angelo Lelii in Monza in 1947 and continued until his death in 1979. It has been revived by the group that also owns Penta. As one of Italy's leading decorative lighting brands, this should be a good home for Arredoluce.
Triennale Angelo Lelii 1947
A forward-looking perfectionist, Lelii's most influential design is undoubtedly the floor light known as Triennale, because it was presented at the Milan Triennale in 1947. Here it is:
It became so seminal because it was very popular in the USA, where it was made by Richards-Morgenthau for the Raymor Corporation. It was one of the most popular Italian lighting designs retailed there during the post-war years.
Cobra Angelo Lelii 1962
As an example of just how original Angelo Lelii's design language was, here is his Cobra table light of 1967 (famously first sketched on a paper towel):
It is as innovative technically as it is æsthetically. For it was one of the first designs to have a separate transformer in the base, meaning that it could be used with the then-new low voltage lamps. And the round shade in the centre is held by magnets, so that it can be adjusted to direct the light where it is needed. Cobra is H62cm and comes in polished brass or chromed, with contrasting bases.
Though Lelii was responsble for most of the designs, Arredoluce also cooperated with great Italian designers of the period (including some that also designed for Stilnovo, such as the Castiglioni brothers, Ettore Sotass and Gae Aulenti).
Pavone Gio Ponti 1961
Gio Poniti, for example. His Pavone, like Triennale and Cobra, is also available from the relaunched Arredoluce.
The chandelier comes in two sizes, Ø220cm and 180cm. There is a matching table light and two sizes of applique.
We are glad to see so many designs from the past being reintroduced, because they were, and remain, very good lights. Others (sometimes the same ones) are design classics, redolent of the period or pen that that they come from. Many design fans—collectors—would rather have originals from the period when they were first launched. But not everybody. A vintage light will be in less than perfect condition (and a bit dirty), its electrical safety will be questionable, and it could cost silly money. So other design fans (for whom the value is in the design rather than the object) are happy to have the same iconic design, even if (or because) it is pristine and costs less. You know your client, so you know which category they fall into. I'd like it to be the latter, so that you can buy fresh lights, from the people who make them, through us. Just saying....
As always, if you are interested in any of these collections or, more generally in contemporary versions of great lights from the past, do get in touch.
