Flos Parentesi suspension 50th anniversary Limited Edition

Product Information:

A pencil sketch, an intersection of intuitions between two great designers who never meet, a best seller that is presented in a new version. The story of Parentesi, which turns 50, is made up of curiosity, ingenuity, a pinch of magic and a lot of respect.

Its story begins with the car accident that, in 1969, robs the world of the young Pio Manzù, a unique talent and author of immortal icons, such as FIAT 127. Achille Castiglioni knows his work but has never met him and when, thanks to Manzù's widowed wife, he crosses one of his drawings, he is struck by a lamp on a rod that connects the ceiling to the floor: this is the idea of Parentesi. In that design there is movement, flexibility and lightness and Castiglioni wants to free it so he replaces the rod with a metal rope which, deflected by a tubular, makes friction so that the lamp stays in position by itself, while the wire remains under tension between a boat tensioner and a weight of 5 kg. The light source is a simple bulb that rotates 360°. Parentesi is a co-design tool, in fact the idea was "who buys, mounts" and the transparency of the packaging recalls how Manzù exhibited the mechanical parts of cars at trade fairs. Castiglioni chooses to share Parentesi's paternity with his late colleague, honoring the value of intuition as well as the design and technical ability that transforms it into a finished product.

This respect also returns in the choice of Calvi and Brambilla (Design Curators of Flos) to draw from the imagination of both fathers of Parentesi for the new edition that celebrates its 50th anniversary. The two worked on color by choosing the colors in a philological way: Turquoise and Orange Signal. "The first was dear to Castiglioni, who had used it for home interiors. The second was the color that Manzù used for his prototypes", explain the design curators. The colors were applied on the tubular but also on the silicone base, since it was already colored in the original design, and also the packaging of the 70s was re-engineered and reintroduced, together with the round booklet, positioned under the base of the lamp. More than a nostalgia operation, therefore, a further sentence within a design dialogue between giants that lasts 50 years.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Materials:  Steel, elastomer. Base: silicone-coated cast iron block
• Source:  1x max 150W
• Bulb NOT included
• DIMMABLE (dimmer included)
• Mounting:  From ceiling to floor
• For indoor
• Power supply:  Included
• Colors:  Turquoise, Orange Signal

Dimensions

• Base diameter:  D. 10 mm
• Diffuser height:  580 mm
• Total height:  max 4000 mm

"When we decided to repurpose the original Parentesi packaging, transparent and with the handle, we used completely recycled PET derived from the recovery of waste materials, such as plastic bottles. PET is perfectly recyclable, so if you don't want to keep the package designed by Achille Castiglioni, just throw it in the recycling. But, we are sure, many will jealously keep such a beautiful box" - Paolo Brambilla