Imaginative lighting is a longtime hallmark of modern Italian design. Following in the footsteps of innovative companies such as Artemide and Arteluce, the company FLOS brought a fresh aesthetic philosophy to the Italian lighting field in the 1960s, one that would produce several of the iconic floor lamp, table lamp and pendant light designs of the era.
FLOS — Latin for “flower” — was founded in the northern town of Merano in 1962 by Cesare Cassina (of the famed Cassina furniture-making family) and Dino Gavina, a highly cultured businessman who believed that artistic ideas espoused in postwar Italy could inform commercial design. The two enlisted brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni as their first designers.
Even before FLOS was formally incorporated, the Castiglionis gave the firm one of its enduring successes with the Taraxacum pendant and associated designs made by spraying an elastic polymer on a metal armature. (George Nelson had pioneered the technique in the United States in the early 1950s.) For other designs, the brothers found inspiration in everyday objects. Suggestive of streetlights, their Arco floor lamp, with its chrome boom and ball-shaped shade sweeping out from a marble block base, has become a staple of modernist decors. Designing for FLOS since 1966, Tobia Scarpa has also been inspired by the commonplace. His folded-metal Foglio sconces resemble a shirt cuff; his carved marble Biagio table lamp looks like a jai alai basket.
In 1973, FLOS purchased Arteluce, the company founded in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti, and it continues to produce his designs. In recent decades, FLOS has contracted work from several noted designers, including Marcel Wanders and Jasper Morrison. As instantly recognizable as they are, many FLOS designs remain accessible. While FLOS lighting is the essence of modernity, its sleek, subtle designs can be used to strike a sculptural note in even traditional spaces.
Browse a broad range of FLOS lighting fixtures at 1stDibs.
Flos Mayday Outdoor Pendant in Mustard Yellow with Polypropylene Frame
By Konstantin Grcic, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Flos Mayday Outdoor Pendant in Mustard Yellow with Polypropylene Frame by Konstantin Grcic Multipurpose lighting appliance suitable for installation...
Opaline Glass
FLOS OK Pendant Light in White by Konstantin Grcic
By Konstantin Grcic, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A pendant light that feels as at home in an industrial space as it would in museum exhibit: The OK Light plays with expectations to provide functional light that is surprising and ea...
Aluminum
FLOS OK Pendant Light in Chrome by Konstantin Grcic
By Flos, Konstantin Grcic
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A pendant light that feels as at home in an industrial space as it would in museum exhibit: The OK Light plays with expectations to provide functional light that is surprising and ea...
Aluminum
FLOS OK Pendant Light in Black by Konstantin Grcic
By Konstantin Grcic, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A pendant light that feels as at home in an industrial space as it would in museum exhibit: The OK Light plays with expectations to provide functional light that is surprising and ea...
Aluminum
Flos Noctambule Pendant Light with 4 High Cylinders by Konstantin Grcic
By Konstantin Grcic, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Another pioneering lighting design in the array of lamps and lighting fixtures FLOS is known for, Noctambule LED dimmable pendant light with tall cylinders is one of designer Konstantin Grcic’s finest creations. Adaptable to any interior space, this dynamic fixture can be configured as a pendant lamp or standing light using the additional components available with the product. Available in a variety of unique and distinct design options, Noctambule pendant...
Glass
Flos Noctambule Pendant Light with 3 Cylinders by Konstantin Grcic
By Konstantin Grcic, Flos
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Noctambule LED dimmable pendant light short cylinders by Flos is the latest in the series of inventive lighting fixtures envisioned and executed by master designer Konstantin Grcic. ...
Glass
B5 Yellow Pendant Lamp by Disderot
Located in Geneve, CH
B5 Yellow Pendant Lamp by Disderot Limited Edition. Designed by René-Jean Caillette Dimensions: Ø 17 x H 200 cm. Materials: Laquered metal. Delivered...
Metal
Intense Yellow Profiles Pendant Light by Atelier Areti
Located in Geneve, CH
Intense Yellow Profiles Pendant Light by Atelier Areti Dimensions: D 13.5 x H 67.5 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal, white glass. Available in other colors. Please contact us. Al...
Metal
Yellow Nunk hanging lamp by Carlo Forcolini produced by Nemo, 1993
By Carlo Forcolini, Nemo Lighting 1
Located in Ravenna, IT
Yellow Nunk suspension lamp designed by Carlo Forcolini and produced by Nemo in 1993. The lamp consists of a splayed steel tube and a black painted frame, while the conical diffuser ...
Plastic
DCW Editions Les Acrobates N°322 XL Conic Pendant Lamp in Yellow Shade
By Bernard-albin Gras
Located in Brooklyn, NY
DCW Editions Les Acrobates N°322 XL Conic Pendant Lamp in Black Steel Arm and Yellow Shade by Bernard-Albin Gras Les Acrobates de GRAS are adept at doing tricks high in the air, w...
Steel
Light Yellow Profiles Pendant Light by Atelier Areti
Located in Geneve, CH
Light Yellow Profiles Pendant Light by Atelier Areti Dimensions: D 13.5 x H 67.5 cm. Materials: Powder-coated metal, white glass. Available in other colors. Please contact us. All ...
Metal
DCW Editions Les Acrobates N°322 Large Conic Pendant Lamp in Yellow Shade
By Bernard-albin Gras
Located in Brooklyn, NY
DCW Editions Les Acrobates N°322 Large Conic Pendant Lamp in Black Steel Arm and Yellow Shade by Bernard-Albin Gras Les Acrobates de GRAS are adept at doing tricks high in the air...
Steel
