The interaction between great Italian architecture and the industrial design of masters like Gino Sarfatti, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Tobia Scarpa, and contemporaries Jasper Morrison and Michael Anastassiades creates a harmonious play of lines and geometries, an ecstasy of beauty and elegance, which results in pure, minimal, refined images with strong communication power. The design objects are not only in dialogue with the architecture: stylised human figures move around them in a cross-section of contemporary daily life, evocative of a distinctly Italian life-style. Icons is a series of juxtaposed visual representations in both colour and black and white.
The colour shots emphasise the timeless beauty of the design objects, while the black and white images capture human presence and interaction, marking the times we live in and the currency of the moment. Design, architecture, art, graphic design, and culture combine harmoniously in powerful and refined images with a strong, evocative, and emotional impact. "We see each icon as an interface between itself and the user, transforming this interaction into a moment of mutual dialogue, a genuine conversation that transcends time, space, social clas-ses, and cultures,” Corti continues. “Icons bring life where there was none, becoming universal social objects that take us on an imaginative journey. They teach us that form, geometry, and function alone are not enough – it is use and experience that make them real".
Flos Icons between history and contemporary
Upon its establishment in 1962, Flos has created innovative forms of lighting that have become industry archetypes. From Artur Eisenkeil's early experiments with cocoon, a novel resin sprayed in liquid form around a metal structure to create lamps with surprisingly poetic shapes, to revolutionary products such as the celebrated Arco floor lamp by brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
The protagonists portrayed in Icons include unique lamps created in the 1950s and 1960s, such as 2097, Luminator, Arco, Taccia, Taraxacum, Gatto, Snoopy, and Biagio. Later decades are represented by ingenious and eclectic designs like Parentesi from the 1970s and the ethereal Taraxacum 88 from the 1980s, along with more recent successes like the Glo-Ball and IC collections, which have already achieved that sense of familiarity typical of iconic products. These products live on with the same power as when they were created, thanks to Flos’ ability to replace and update light sources while re-spectfully preserving the original design.
The Icons visual story serves a dual purpose: to convey the rich history and legacy of a brand that has written the history of lighting and to provoke reflection on the meaning of contemporaneity and the essence and longevity of these icons, essentially interpreting the spirit of the times. These objects are irrefutable proof that their ‘good design’ has endured without diminishing in beauty or value.
“This project has given me a free and unprecedented relationship with the past. It has been an important exercise in re-examining our legacy and has made me realise the power of these ob-jects, which create an intimate and private sphere wherever they may be (even in the transient and shared spaces shown in these images). They are objects that do not need to mark or de-scribe history, precisely because of their ability to live time lightly and carelessly. These icons no longer distinguish the past from the future, an attitude specific to design and a fundamental aspect of the Flos DNA,” concludes Corti.
The Icons visual story will launch in September 2024, across all organic channels. The narrative will be delivered in digital photo, print, and video formats. To support the visuals and further complement the work, Flos has developed a booklet with a short introductory essay by Deyan Sudjic, conceived as a working tool and gift for the public and all design history enthusiasts.
“Flos’ heritage is invaluable, and celebrating it is a cornerstone of our strategy,” comments Matteo Luoni, Deputy CEO at Flos. “Communicating the contemporary nature of these ex-traordinary creations has been a real mission, and I am proud of the result we have achieved with Icons. This is not a nostalgic story. On the contrary, Icons represents a constant drive to draw inspiration from our historical identity as a means to look forward and develop design that prioritises human beings, the planet, and culture. Today, this means being radical: handling increasingly complex situations – technological, economic, productive – with a strong sense of responsibility, creativity, and courage.”
