The iconic and timeless lamps by Artemide
Artemis and light, a perfect pair that does not fear confrontation with time. Artemide’s products are the result of the encounter between art and technique and give rise to something unrepeatable. They are the result of experimentation and research into new methodologies, cutting-edge materials with a view to improving people’s lives. This leads to collaborations with established designers as well as young talents with one-of-a-kind achievements that fascinate in every respect, both aesthetically and functionally. Artemide’s signature lamps thus become true timeless icons, combining the most advanced modern technologies with the best of traditional craftsmanship, thus giving radiant moments of light and well-being.
Artemide’s collections are many and varied, but all have one goal: to make the environment one lives in pleasant through a discreet but indispensable presence.
One example is certainly Discovery, a perfect synthesis of Artemide’s own knowledge, values, innovation in research and care for each individual project.
But there is much more. To call Artemide’s Eclisse a ‘desk lamp’ may seem reductive: it is not just a useful accessory to illuminate a work surface, it is a highly prized piece of design that enriches the environment in which it is placed with style. A unique piece that marked an entire generation.
The Discovery, a circle of light radiating into the room
Discovery is definitely one of Artemide’s most sought-after yet simplest creations where opto-electrical expertise and design skills enable a perfect result. Artemide’s Discovery is a light element that does not invade the environment, imperceptible at first glance so much so that it seems dematerialized. It is the light that gives it weight and volume: indeed, it is once lit that the illuminated surface can be seen. The uniform light it gives off makes it suitable for installation especially in working environments. But not only that, Discovery prefers large spaces to be illuminated, and it is in the interior that its full potential emerges.
In the interplay of the principles of geometry, this product takes two parallel paths.
The Discovery Parete thanks to its perfect and infinite circular shape is a guarantee of homogeneous, complete and total light. It looks like a big moon, full, close and bright, ready to welcome those who choose it to give them a new excitement in perception.
The Discovery Space, with its cut, square and rectangular shapes mesmerizes in vision thanks to the range of colors available that suggest now a warm light, now a cold one. It is like standing in front of an art installation suspended between ceiling and floor, sky and earth. A setting for the environment in which it is located.
Designed by Ernesto Gismondi, the soul and founder of Artemide the Discovery collection carries with it the hallmarks of its creator’s personality and life: a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a constant thought true unexplored galaxies, bright stars and infinite immensities.
The light revolution on the work desk born with the Eclipse
It is spelled Eclisse and read Ludovico “Vico” Magistretti who designed it in 1965 directing it toward winning the Compasso d’Oro, considered one of the most prestigious awards in Italian design, just two years later in 1967.
Eclisse and design are a successful bond: this lamp is among the most influential representatives of Italian excellence in the world-so much so that it is part of the permanent collection of some of the most important design museums such as MoMa in New York and the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.
The idea came to Magistretti while he was on the Milan Subway and thinking of Jean Valjean’s lantern, a blind lamp, described by Victor Hugo in Les Miserables; so as not to lose any of that inspiration he drew an early sketch of the design on the back of the ticket.
After more than half a century, it still remains an absolute masterpiece of the Artemide house and an object of worship and collection worldwide.
The Eclipse was truly a revolutionary product capable of forming a new vision based on a solid balance between form and function, design and utility toward the path of functionality based on simplicity.
It comes in a brightly colored spherical shape in full 1970s style that contains the light source protected by what may look like a classic lampshade. But a closer look reveals the revolutionary insight: the lampshades are two, hemispherical in shape. The exterior is fixed while the interior is adjustable and by rotating it ‘eclipses’ the light source thus making it possible to customize it from direct to diffuse and vice versa, and to illuminate the desk to one’s taste and need.
An iconic, symbolic product that still fascinates at first glance.
