Lamp Model Juncker 147 by Afra & Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1960s

Innovative architect, industrial designer, and urban planner Vico Magistretti was a driving force in Italian design from the 1960s onwards. Born into a family of successful Milanese architects in 1920, he became one of Italy’s most respected designers, celebrated for an uncanny mastery of clarity of form.

During the Second World War, Magistretti fled to Lausanne, Switzerland to escape military deportation and began to attend classes at the Champ Universitaire Italien in Lausanne. There, he met and befriended legendary rationalist architect Ernesto Nathan Rogers (1909-69), cofounder of BBPR, who would become a lifelong mentor.

Upon returning to Italy, Magistretti pursued an architecture degree from the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1945, and began working at his father’s architectural firm with Paolo Chessa. Shortly after joining the firm, Magistretti’s father, Pier Giulio, passed away.

In the immediate postwar reconstruction years, Magistretti began to work produce modernist furniture designs, especially for exhibition in R.I.M.A. and the Triennale alongside other important Italian architect-designers like Franco Albini, the Castiglioni brothers, Ignazio Gardella, and Marco Zanuso.

During the 1960s and beyond, Magistretti created a number of sleek, high concept furniture and lighting design for major manufacturers, such as Artemide, Campeggi, Cassina, De Padova, Flou, Fontana Arte, Fritz Hansen, Kartell, Olivari, Oluce, Poggi, Schiffini, and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna. Iconic designs from Magistretti career include the Eclipse Table Lamp (1966, Compasso d’Oro 1967), Selene Stacking Chair (1968), Chimera Lamp (1969), and Giuone Floor Lamp (1969) for Artemide; Maralunga Seating (1973, Compasso d’Oro in 1979) and Nuvola Rossa Bookshelves (1977) for Cassina; and the Sonora Pendant (1976) and Model 233 Atollo Table Lamp (1977, Compasso d’Oro 1979) for Oluce.

Magistretti’s most famous architectural additions to Milan are the Tower in Park in Via Revere (1953-56, in conjunction with Franco Longoni) and the office block in Corso Europa (1955-1957). Other architectural feats include the Towers in Piazzale Aquileia (1961-64), Bassetti House in Azzate (1959-62), Cassina House in Carimate (1964-65), a house in Via Conservatorio in Milan (1963-66), Cusano Milanino Town Hall (1966-69), the Milano San Felice neighborhood in Segrate (1966-69, in partnership with Luigi Caccia Dominioni), and a house in Piazza San Marco (1969-71).

Throughout the course of his career, Magistretti held prestigious professorships at the Royal College of Arts in London and the Domus Academy in Milan. His work has been acquired by important museums around the world, including MoMA New York and the Victoria & Albert in London.

Magistretti passed away in 2006. 

* Images courtesy of Artemide, Cassina, and Gebrüder Thonet Vienna

The roots of Italian lighting manufacturing company Flos can be traced to 1959. That is when Arturo Eisenkeil of Merano, Italy, began to look for new applications for a spray-on plastic coating he was importing from the United States. In the early 1960s, Eisenkeil had an auspicious meeting with two designer-entrepreneurs, Cesare Cassina (1909-1979) and Dino Gavina (1922-2007). Cassina was well versed in the vernacular of design, having founded his eponymous manufacturing company—often credited with introducing industrial design to Italy—along with his brother Umberto in 1927. Like Cassina, Gavina was also a design manufacturing impresario, having founded the Dino Gavina company in the 1950s and its subsidiary Gavina SpA in 1960. The three came together to launch Flos in Merano, Italy in 1962.

Flos’s mission was to revolutionize the lighting industry by exploiting new materials, starting with Eisenkeil’s “cocoon floss” polyamide. In the early years of Flos, design was overseen first by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, followed by his brother Achille and Tobia Scarpa, and then Scarpa’s wife, Afra. The resulting products were intriguingly futuristic looking, such as the Castiglionis’ Viscontea Lamp (1960), Taraxacum Chandelier (1960), and Gato Table Light (1960), as well as the Scarpas’ Fantasma Floor Lamp (1960s). The effect of the cocoon allowed for a soft, ambient glow.

Other signature Flos pieces include the classic Arco Lamp (1962) by the Castiglioni brothers; the Parentesi Lamp (1971) by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu, which was the first piece in the Flos collection to receive the Compasso d’Oro Award in 1979; the shaded Romeo Moon Table Lamp (1995) and Archimoon Soft Task Lamp (1998) by Philippe Starck; the portable work light May Day (1999) by Konstantin Grcic; and the opal glass Glo-Ball collection (1999) by Jasper Morrison. Other Flos collaborators include Michael Anastassiades, Barber Osgerby, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Antonio Citterio, Ron Gilad, Marco Pezzolo, Paolo Rizzatto, Marc Sadler, Patricia Urquiola, Marcel Wanders, and Sebastian Wrong.

In 1964, the company moved to Brescia under the direction of Sergio Gandini. In the 1970s, Flos bought Arteluce, a well-known lighting manufacturer formerly led by Gino Sarfatti. In 1999, Gandini passed away, leaving Flos to his son Piero. In 2005, Flos acquired the Spanish architectural lighting brand Antares. In 2014, a significant portion of the company was sold to Investindustrial, which continues to support CEO Piero Gandini and Flos. Today, Flos offers a range of residential, commercial, and custom-made lighting products.

An ongoing dedication to innovation has ensured Flos a place in design history. Additionally, the brand continues to reap accolades for its collaborative legacy, working with iconic, award-winning designers. Flos designs can be found in museums around the world, including the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.