In an era in which Italy was still predominantly characterised by conservative decorative trends, Ponti designed a lamp which was an essential fusion of geometrical forms: a sphere placed on a cone expressed in a language which was as minimal as it was absolute.

Angle-poise lamps with clamps, which first emerged at the beginning of the 20th century for industrial use, were progressively adapted to work spaces. The “L-1” Luxo, developed by the Danish Jacobsen, is the most classic model in this category. Italy also saw the emergence of the version known as “Naska Losir”, named after the first Luxo distributor.  

“Akari” is in reality an entire collection of lamps designed by the great Japanese-American sculptor Noguchi. The delicate paper from which the shade is made is a reference to an ancient Japanese technique and produces a soft light which respects shadow.

Produced between 1953 and 1961, the famous phytomorphic bracket light, a masterpiece of French design, returned to production as a result of the wishes of Serge Moulli’s family. Each model is numbered and produced in full respect for the original model.

A table lamp which, over time, has become the very icon of the light with a classic conical shade, here however made in white glass and fitted to base which is also in glass, characterised by its gentle curving form. Ingrand, a forgotten master of glass, summarised the desires of the cultured upper-class in this object.

Before public attention shifted away from the category of ceiling lights for a considerable period of time, Sarfatti designed an absolute masterpiece. One of the few suspension lamps capable of competing with the legendary creations in Murano glass. In reality, the design is very essential, with slim arms each holding a tiny “little pear” bulb.

Designed for the “Langelinie Pavillonen” restaurant in Copenhagen, “Artichoke” was initially just a nickname which derived from the distribution of the leaves which were necessary to shield the light produced by the central bulb. It is still one of the most recognised icons of Danish design.

The only object that the Colombo brothers, Gianni the artist and Joe the designer, ever created together. The light, produced by a source hidden in the base, is transferred along the shaped block of methacrylate in a tribute to the utopia of cinematic art. An object which straddles the border between sculpture and design.

Possibly one of the most recognised objects in Italian design. The grand arch allows light to be brought to various areas in a room. “Arco” was therefore created as an alternative to a central ceiling lamp. Such an outreach however required a heavy base for stability. This was the reason for the block of white marble with its characteristic hole, which in reality was provided to allow for the insertion of a rod (the handle of a broom), allowing two people to move the light.

Head of the family of “character lamps”, the Pipistrello [bat] actually looks like a palm (also due to the characteristic fluting on the “trunk”). It is the most recognised object from that branch of Italian design which at the time was known as “Neo-Liberty”.

Incredibly, the most efficient manifestation of modular aesthetics and prefabrication which was typical of the late-1960s, this is a light of great poetry and sophistication in form. The simple bent horseshoe “hook” was to turn the Murano establishment on its head and, composed in precious “curtains” falling from the light source, it was used in a wide range of important and varied locations. A clear forerunner of the now frequent relationship between design and decorative arts.

A design which is not only an icon in itself, but also a clear symbol of the period in which it was designed: free, flexible, to be placed on the ground or coiled on an item of furniture. It was inspired by a vacuum cleaner tube, but the engineering side required extensive research.

The extraordinary theme of the movement of light in space is examined with great expertise by Rizzatto. With the lightest of touches, the 2-metre arm can be moved to the position of choice, thus moving the light in any position within an area of 4 x 4 metre by 3 metres in height. 

One of the few lamps in the history of design that everyone calls by name. Constructed to a minimalist geometric scheme (a half sphere on a cone which in turn is mounted on a cylinder) hides sophisticated details such as the possibility to tilt the large shade.

One of the objects which marked the beginning of the minimalist movement in Italy. In reality, “Costanza” is a re-reading of the classic shaded light in which Rizzatto recognised unique homely values and “warmth”. Here the classic form is stripped down and reinterpreted with contemporary materials. A true “contemporary classic”.

In the grand family of angle-poise lamps, “Tolomeo” plays a fundamental role. Functional, ideally-priced, it is one of the most-sold items of all, covering a marcet segment which ranges from domestic to office to contract use.

It is almost impossible to choose just one light from the extraordinary output of Ingo Maurer, without a doubt one of the most important lighting designers of the 20th century. Irreverent from a formal point of view, revolutionary from a technological point of view, Maurer regularly broke the rules. “One from the heart” was originally a wedding gift. This explains the symbolism of the two cables, one red and one blue, which meet beneath a heart from which the light emerges, to then be reflected in a mirror.

Always searching for the simplest of forms which are also the height of expression, Morrison proposes a white glass globe which is “squashed at the poles”, and which requires no other element to render it a classic.

Inspired by portable work-site lighting, “May Day” blurs the confines between types (is it a floor lamp? a table lamp? a suspended light?).  Fitted with a very long cable and a handle in moulded plastic which also serves as a hook, it can be used in a wide range of situations.

The Anglo-Cypriot designer is undoubtedly one of the most talented of his generation. His designs, which combine sphere and cable in articulated spatial compositions, are among the most beautiful and, for some years now, also among the most copied. With this suspension lamp, Anastassiades returns to the simple poetry of the so-called “ministerial” globe (typical of lighting in public offices at the beginning of the 20th century) and re-interprets it with extreme grace thanks to the lateral angling of the stem and the LED light source (which eliminates the need to change the bulb).