Block Notes #6: Foscarini

Foscarini's catalogue expresses the search for a decorative idiom linked to the domestic sphere but projected towards new technologies of light.

"A lamp switched off is product design, a lamp switched on is interior design."
On the subject of lighting design, and light fixtures in particular, one is immediately reminded of this striking observation used by Pierluigi Nicolin (editor of Lotus and lecturer on the degree course in interiors at Milan's Faculty of Design) to describe his concept of interior design, as distinguished from straight design and from the architecture of interiors. This characteristic is more or less evident in all experiences of design concerned with light. But in some cases, as in the Foscarini editions analysed here, it is clearly read through a precise and original editorial philosophy devoted to the pursuit of narrative research. This design vision of light is certainly rooted in the company's origins (linked to the history of Murano glass) and its date of birth in 1983, at the height of that aesthetic and cultural renewal which erupted in the epochal passage of post-modernity. Not intended merely as pure functional performance, light is interpreted as the actual material of objects designed to furnish spaces with a strong poetic reaction.

The post-modern forge embraces the idea of an evolved craftsmanship capable of merging old wisdom, new technologies and innovative materials. If this productive outlook is offered as an encounter between new projective design visions regarding typology, form and technique, the result is an ideal condition that can synergetically stimulate innovation and the market. This condition, however, is maintained through a very delicate balance that is not easily accomplished. At times, even the mere fact of looking for it contributes to the authentic quality of a product. Drawing on an analogy to the publishing world, Foscarini's "editorial" approach can be defined in relation to two different models: the house interested in publishing innovative and original material beyond fictional qualities; and the house looking for biographical, if not plainly autobiographical texts, with a prominent figure who evokes an almost mythological impact.

Tropico, design
by Giulio Iacchetti, 2008. Referring to the decorative language of crystal chandeliers,
the composition of the lighting body
is based on the repetition of a single
element in thermoplastic resin, which also
acts as a structural component. — Tropico, design by Giulio Iacchetti, 2008. Referring to the decorative language of crystal chandeliers, the composition of the lighting body is based on the repetition of a single element in thermoplastic resin, which also acts as a structural component.

A look through Foscarini's catalogue gives the impression of meeting text-characters that are each very different to the other, as protagonists of individual episodes in the same story, or of texts in the same collection. One feels a bit like Ulysses voyaging through a world and landing in places inhabited by lamps that rule undisputed over a space and design its atmosphere. Depending on the lamp encountered, one is welcomed, bewitched, hypnotised, soothed, captured, defended, and naturally also illuminated. In other times, this characteristic would have been hastily dubbed eclectic, largely in a negative sense. For a few decades now (for better or worse), the aesthetic and moral canon of the "things" of our time has been represented by this idea of present-day figures and myths that coexist and intersect while speaking different languages, and are expressed with varying and contrasting forms.

Allegretto, designed by Atelier Oï, 2009. Suspension lamp in aluminium and lacquered steel.

In this respect, the Wave light fixture, designed by Baruffi & De Santi, has been one of the most interesting characters in the Foscarini collection over the past three years. In its presentation text, the appearances are defined and re-stitched into a new hybrid figure, offering its line of interpretation: "A lamp that is not a suspension, not a fluctuating decorative element, not a technical rail, but all these things together." Aside from the play of words, the idea of fluid and fluctuating suspension expressed in this text-character enchants and inevitably refers to mystic apparitions of magnificent historical iconographies in sacred scriptures, and in particular in certain emphatic re-readings of Salvador Dalí.

Other figures, with a different evocative language, arrive from the Tropico suspension fittings designed by Giulio Iacchetti. Turgid forms like squashed spheres, spindles or drops are fluctuating presences similar to jellyfish floating freely in space. The result of Iacchetti's interesting play of transfers with the traditional crystal drop chandelier is a lamp made with a gravity-modelled structure. Its horizontally arranged metal rings are like the meridians of the globe, connected by elements in thermoplastic resin similar to faceted glass drops. This research was conducted with other fine results by Angelo Mangiarotti in 1967, with the Giogali glass hooks system. But Tropico's play of references goes even further, connecting with the world of recycled objects in certain Third World areas, such as baskets made of woven strips of coloured and translucent plastic. It is a daring yet appreciable idea to transfer concepts from the stately "drops chandelier" into a form reminiscent of certain joyous models inspired by recycling initiatives in African suburbs, even though it takes little to exchange the magic of one for the seduction of the other.

A look through Foscarini's catalogue, one feels a bit like Ulysses voyaging through a world and landing in places inhabited by lamps that rule undisputed over a space and design its atmosphere

Le Soleil, designed by Vicente García Jiménez, 2009. The luminous effect plays on the opacity
of the material. — Le Soleil, designed by Vicente García Jiménez, 2009. The luminous effect plays on the opacity of the material.

Lightness and immateriality, meanwhile, are the peculiar expressions of the Allegretto lamps system, designed by Atelier Oï. The narrative theme here is that of light encaged in a virtual body, dissolved in a weft of lines that succinctly describes its form. Like a bird in a cage, the light tries to escape through every chink, but for the most part implodes inside the cage due to the continuous play of reflections. This object-text gains buoyancy due to its attractive, vibrant plastic form reflecting outer light, and as a container holding back light which is then "slowly" filtered from inside. Here too, this object is significantly enhanced by its unusual faculty of sound, revealed when brushing against its web of rods. Once again, as the catalogue text tells us, Allegretto proposes a hybrid multifunctionality: "A lamp, a musical instrument, an installation? All this and more still." Marc Sadler's Tress system of lamps proposes another play of constrained and restrained light. But this time the game refers to the natural effect of light filtered through interwoven branches. Made with fibreglass and resin interwoven into a random composition, Tress becomes a slotted and slightly tapered cylinder which is at once structure, decoration and screening. The lamp's iconic nature is animated by light to uplift the random pattern of its constructed weft. In an exercise redolent of Bruno Munari's valuable teachings, Tress is a good example of the marriage between plain form and expressive multiplicity, in a number of small random variants.

Tua, designed by Marco Zito, table lamp in aluminium. The design springs
from the simple act of screening and directing the light. — Tua, designed by Marco Zito, table lamp in aluminium. The design springs from the simple act of screening and directing the light.

Another reference to Munari springs to mind regarding the Tua table lamp designed by Marco Zito. The shared concepts typical of that school are manifold: simplicity, the reduced number of elements, attention to detail, a single sheet of metal, a single fold, a single colour. However, the object-text does not seem to convey that seductive intimacy suggested in its introduction.

But perhaps in these cases (although in reality this would apply to all in general) it would be necessary to "live" with this lamp, allowing it to accompany a part of our lives, in order to grasp its virtues better. Finally, it is impossible not to mention the various and multiform ideas presented in the Aplomb family of suspension lamps with cement diffuser, designed by Lucidi Pevere; in the Fly-Fly flounced wimple cum suspension lamp by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba; in the friendly watchful eye of the little Binic table spot by the young French designer Ioanna Vautrin; and in the curious Gehry effect of the "pile of after-dinner plates" transfigured into the Le Soleil suspension lamp by Vicente García Jiménez, the young Spanish designer who currently resides in Udine. Giampiero Bosoni

Binic, designed by Ionna Vautrin, 2010. Table lamp with ABS base and polycarbonate projector.

Block Notes #6: Foscarini

Foscarini's catalogue expresses the search for a decorative idiom linked to the domestic sphere but projected towards new technologies of light.

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