Black Flag by Konstantin Grcic for Flos, hall 13, booth 106

One of Konstantin Grcic's most powerful projects: it is Black Flag for Flos, a wall light extendable made up of one vertical and three horizontal bars, which unfolds like a flag to illuminate an entire room or a large table.

“The Black Flag lamp embodies the rebellious spirit of its name, inspired by the American hardcore punk band of the same name”, says the designer, “but it is also a functional and surprising piece of design.

Its unique ability to extend up to 3.5 meters from the wall brings the light to the heart of any space and, when folded back, resembles an elegant and visually powerful sculpture. It is an important, sculptural piece that attracts the eye, while remaining humble in its purpose”.

At the fair, the lamp is on display with the inscription Act now, a call to act now to save the environment.

The lamp is designed with the minimum of materials, mainly aluminum, without glues or welds. Each element can be easily disassembled to be repaired or replaced. Additionally, Black Flag is shipped in unassembled, flat bars, reducing volumes and shipping impact.

Pli by Felicia Arvid for Foscarini, hall 11, stand 106

At the age of 24 you participated in the SaloneSatellite. At the age of 28, in 2022, he won the Compasso d'Oro with the Klipper sound-absorbing system for CaimiBrevetti , becoming the youngest female designer to win the 'nobel' of design.

She is Felicia Arvid , the (very good) Danish creative passionate about tailoring, with a background in fashion design. This year she makes her debut in lighting with Pli for Foscarini, a suspension lamp formed by a ring of light around which the designer drapes waves a very thin sheet of paper or wood to give life to a series of soft folds and embossments.

Felicia Arvid and Foscarini show that to create exciting and functional lights you don't need special effects or complications. At the basis of magic is the idea.

Pic-a-stic by Ingo Maurer, hall 11, booth 208

Ingo Maurer made a great comeback in Milan, after the death of its founder, in 2019, and after the acquisition of Foscarini.

The Munich company returns to excite us, and amuse us, with toy-lamps that make us smile (hooray!).

An example? Pic-a-stic, a lamp that recalls the shanghai game: it is supplied in kits of over 50 colored sticks to be arranged freely, crosswise or parallel, around the central luminous body , supported by a black rubber elastic ring; just move the sticks to change the shape of the lamp, just like in the famous board game.

Asymptote by Davide Groppi, hall 13, stand 122

"All my lamps, even the new ones, are dreams dropped into a concrete design dimension", says Davide Groppi, inventor, designer and manufacturer with his homonymous brand, who had already played as a child by building lamps by hand, observing his electrical engineer father.

“I like to think of our lamps as small inventions capable, with great simplicity, of excitement and surprise.

And, every time, the aim of my research is to demonstrate something new, never seen before. With these feelings I created and selected a new collection of lamps”.

Among the novelties is Asyntoto, "the evocation of a black hole from which not even the light comes out, a place from which the light manages to escape and pervades the space of wonder and capacity. Abstraction, purity, graphic sign. When turned off, the disk appears enigmatic, a symbolic presence of the absence of light”.

Liiu by Studio Vantot for Luceplan, hall 11, stand 102

Beautiful, at the entrance to the Luceplan stand, the Liiu light by Studio Vantot.

It's an understatement to call it a lamp: Liiu is a modular luminous sculpture that hovers in the air "like a willow in the breeze", as the Eindhoven-based designer duo recounts.

The lamp bodies are intertwined in a very thin stainless steel structure, electrified metal cables that carry the current, anchored to the ceiling and kept in constant tension with counterweights. Assembly is quick and easy.

The plus: you can move the light fixtures along the electrified cables, to direct the luminous flux where it is needed, and change the composition of this ethereal light sculpture from time to time.

Africa by Francisco Gomez Paz for Vibia, hall 15, stand 126

Francisco Gomez Paz scores another master stroke and for Vibia presents Africa, a cordless lamp which with its anthropomorphic elongated conical shape reminiscent of African sculptures in ebony.

A handy task lamp that becomes a life and work companion. Just touch a button on the head to turn it on, off and adjust the intensity, while to recharge it, the stem rests on a magnetized aluminum base, in continuity with the sculptural design of the lamp.

“Africa offers all the necessary functions of a work lamp without the need for any mechanism,” says Francisco Gomez Paz.

"Mechanisms and their complexity have always fascinated me, so I had a mixed feeling when I realized that with the current efficiency of LEDs and battery life, I could make a work lamp without the traditional articulated arms.

I had to bottle up a lot of interesting ideas of mechanics and look for a different, simplified approach. Africa was born from this process”.

Thalea by Francesco Librizzi with Paolo Rizzatto for FontanaArte, hall 11, stand 101

"I designed it with my master Paolo Rizzatto", says Francesco Librizzi, art director of FontanaArte.

Thalea is made up of a series of lampshades in colored borosilicate glass which, thanks to a joint, can be composed in multiple configurations, inspired by the proportions of the masterpieces of Italian Renaissance art .

Thalea is a family that was born and expresses all the passion of Rizzatto and Librizzi for light and colour: the glass lampshades are available in many colours, from warm to cold shades, to be combined to create different atmospheres and moods.

There are two light sources: a linear one that diffuses the ambient light through the colored glass, and a spot to illuminate the surfaces directly. The result is an emotional and functional light, beautiful even when switched off.

Halley by Richard Sapper from 2005, re-edited by Stilnovo, hall 15, stand 120

She is the great protagonist of the Stilnovo stand. She is Halley, the work lamp designed by Richard Sapper in 2005 and now re-proposed by Stilnovo.

Like the comet of the solar system of the same name, Halley moves by rotating 360 degrees around its balancing weight in regular orbits.

The back of the head (the 'tail' of the comet) which allowed it to cool in the original design, is now free from the old dissipation system, no longer necessary thanks to modern self-dissipatingLEDs, and now incorporates a proximity dimmer: just bring your hand within a centimeter of Halley to turn it on, off and adjust the light intensity.

A project reinterpreted in collaboration with the heirs of the brilliant German designer, and updated with modern high-efficiency LED sources and warm-white light.

Teresa di Ferruccio Laviani for Kartell, hall 2, stand A11

Twenty years after Bourgie, one of the most loved and copied lamps, this year celebrated in the Kartell showroom with a new, very colorful limited edition, Ferruccio Laviani designed Teresa, a lamp that seems to open its petals in a play of warm and enveloping lights.

A further step forward in the experimentation of new design ideas and industrial molding techniques in the field of lighting which allows to obtain unprecedented curves and volumes.

With a Seventies allure, Teresa is ideal as a table lamp, even more spectacular if placed next to the bed on the bedside table. Made of recycled polycarbonate, it is available in many colors with a glossy finish.