Parentesi 50

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its long lasting best seller Parentesi, Flos reinterprets the iconic lamp with two new colors that celebrate its authors: Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzù. Turquoise and Signal Orange. Flos selected these colors for the Parentesi special edition celebrating the 50th birthday of a best seller, designed by Pio Manzù and Achille Castiglioni and in production since 1971. The Parentesi Special Edition is a filological operation of design culture that includes every detail of both lamp and packaging. The original packaging: the last element of a total design When it was launched, Parentesi was sold in a ‘naked’ packaging, two plastic shells made in a single mold. Although no-one knows how much of Manzù’s work was known to Castiglioni, it’s remarkable to notice that the packaging was made with the same technology that the FIAT 127 designer used for promotional cases for FIAT. And that the transparency of the packaging, which gives dignity to the individual elements, recalls how the car designer exhibited mechanical parts at trade fairs: on the wall, like works of art. This particular packaging, still stuck in design enthusiasts’ minds, was abandoned after a few years from early production for unknown reasons – probably related to costs and some stability issues. Yet in the name of philological care and of the “total design” approach that generated Parentesi, Flos has decided to repropose it. New manufacturing capabilities and digitalization have made Castiglioni’s packaging an easy and cost-effective solution, as well as a philologically appropriate one. Adjustable lamp providing direct light. Lamp moves vertically via sliding of a painted shaped steel tube on a ceiling-to-floor steel cable (4000 mm long). Fixture head made of injection-molded black elastomer housing a switch. Counterweight in cast iron covered with a silicone sheath made in the same color as the lamp body. On the cable there is the electronic dimmer which allows the regulation of light brightness. Light bulb included.