A decade after Flos’ last photographic review, the 'Icons' project celebrates the brand’s pioneering design culture by highlighting 12 distinctive and innovative lamps by leading creatives throughout its history.
These include pieces by Gino Sarfatti, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Tobia Scarpa, Jasper Morrison and Michael Anastassiades – a creative output spanning the brand’s origins in the 1960s to more recent years.
Conceived and coordinated by Flos chief creative officer Barbara Corti, 'Icons' features art direction and graphic design by Omar Sosa of Apartamento Studios, and stunning photography and video by Catalan artist Daniel Riera. These are accompanied here by exclusive images from the company's archives.
‘The desire to create a new visual story for our icons led us to reflect on their enduring contemporary relevance after so many years,’ explains Corti. ‘We photographed them in Milanese palazzi built between the 1930s and 1960s. They look as though they might have always been there or have just been installed.’
Set in a dialogue with interiors and buildings by architects including Renato Ferrari, Achille Luigi Ferraresi, Gio Ponti, and Vito and Gustavo Latis, the lights were shot by Riera in both colour and black and white, alongside stylised human figures, to bring out their timeless beauty and evoque a contemporary, local lifestyle.
The lamps showcased in Icons include early pieces created in the 1950s and 1960s which can still be found in the Flos catalogue. Gino Sarfatti’s ‘2097’ from 1958, a modern take on the traditional Murano glass chandelier, is joined by the Castiglionis’ unique lights from the 1960s, including the cocoon-like ‘Gatto’; glossy, cartoonish ‘Snoopy’ and dandelion-inspired ‘Taraxacum’.
Also present is Tobia Scarpa’s 1968 ‘Biagio’, carved from a single block of Carrara marble, while later decades are represented by Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu’s delicate ‘Parentesi’ from the 1970s, along with Jasper Morrison’s 1998 ‘Glo-Ball’ in acid-etched glass and Michael Anastassiades’ perfectly balanced ‘IC’ series.
Apartamento Studios and Riera’s photographs and videos help reflect on Flos’ rich legacy and the relevance of such classic pieces in today’s world, with a short introductory essay by Deyan Sudjic complementing the elegant visuals.
‘This project has given me a free and unprecedented relationship with the past. It has made me realise the power of these objects, which create an intimate and private sphere wherever they may be – even in the transient and shared spaces shown in these images.
‘They are objects that do not need to mark or describe history, precisely because of their ability to live time lightly and carelessly. These icons no longer distinguish the past from the future, an attitude specific to design and a fundamental aspect of the Flos DNA,’ concludes Corti.
