Born in 1918 Achille Castiglioni started his career in architecture but the low demand for new buildings during the war made him move in the direction of product design. Achille had been working with artful lighting design with his brother Pier Giacomo since the 1940s when they were hired by the design firm Flos. The company that started in 1960 with the aim to create innovative lighting design and the two brothers were perfect for the job. 

At Flos the Castiglioni brothers were intent on finding a solution to a problem. How to make a table lamp that wasn’t fixed to a spot in the ceiling. They were looking for flexibility. What if you wanted to move the table to accommodate more guests than usual? The solution was a two meter tall steel arch reaching two meters over the table with a 65 kg counterweight. The length and height was needed in order to create space around the table. For the counterweight they first experimented with concrete but finally settled on the denser marble enabling them to make the base smaller. To protect the marble the Castiglionis cut the corners off the marble block to make it bump-proof. 

During the post WWII reconstruction there was a general idea amongst Italian designers to make designs that enhanced the quality of life through design. Design that took Italian traditions into account while leading the country into a new, modern age. This design philosophy is easy to recognize in the Arco lamp combining the traditional Carrara marble with an industrial arching steel arm. 

Arco, being as heavy as it is, created a problem. It was a bit too heavy to achieve the flexibility Achille and Pier Giacomo were looking for. They worked out a simple but ingenious solution. A hole was made through the marble base, big enough for a broomstick to be inserted and with a perfect balance two people could now easily move the lamp around. 

The Arco met an almost immediate success being featured in “The Italian Job”, 1969, and in the Bond movie “Diamonds Are Forever” in 1971. It quickly became a favorite among architects and designers and is one of the most recognized designs from the 1960s. 

Product information

The size 40x50 cm (approx 16x20”) are signed and printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Bright White 310g archival paper and are sold in a limited edition of 50 prints.

The size 30x40 cm (approx 12x16”) are printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Studio Enhanced 210g archival paper.