Parentesi Floor lamp - / Mains connection - Reissue 1971 by Flos White

"The Parentesi lamp is one of the historical models by Flos, designed in 1971 by two legends of Italian design Achille Castiglioni (1918 - 2002) & Pio Manzù (1939 - 1969). Incredibly revolutionary for the time, this fully mobile lamp won the "Compasso d'Oro" in 1979. It is now part of the permanent collection of MoMA in New York and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan. This hybrid lamp with its industrial, minimalist accents is located halfway between floor lamp and pendant. The original idea behind Parentesi was to "create a light source that flows vertically from floor to ceiling and rotates 360° on its axis". It consists of a rotating spotlight mounted on a bent metal tube that slides from floor to ceiling, along a steel wire. The steel wire (not electrified) attaches to the ceiling with a painted metal ceiling rose. On the ground, a counterweight ensures perfect stability. The spotlight is provided with a long black electric cable (L 400 cm) with a plug on the end that connects to the mains. The Parentesi lamp lets you direct the light according to your needs. At any time, the height of the spotlight and its orientation can be adjusted with a simple wave of the hand. Its light can be direct, to illuminate a particular place, or indirect to create mood lighting. Parentesi can replace the use of a pendant by eliminating the electrical constraints on the ceiling since it simply plugs into a socket on the floor. The Parentesi lamp is equipped with a dimmer located on the electric cable as well as a switch on the spotlight. Parentesi will also fit in nicely near a sofa, bed, work area or in a lounge area. The Parentesi lamp is a concentration of Achille Castiglioni's research. Generally sober and stripped back, Achille Castiglioni's creations innovate with their apparent simplicity, which often hides real work around the balance of forms and use of new materials. Devoid of any aesthetic intention, this approach aims to improve the functionality of existing pieces. The designer has fun rejecting the traditional form of classic utilitarian items (such as the floor lamp), to offer inventive reinterpretations, always rational but sculptural, full of humour and tinged with poetry. ".