The 10 Most Famous Design Lamps, from the Arco to the Pipistrello
Arco, Pipistrello, Atollo, Tolomeo, PH5, Akari — the lights that defined modern lighting, their stories and alternatives at every price.
2 MIN · 5 OBJECTS IDENTIFIEDNo category of design has produced as many icons as lighting — perhaps because a lamp is a sculpture that serves a purpose. Ten definitive pieces, from the Milanese geometric masterpiece to the Japanese paper lantern.
1. Arco — Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos, 1962
The floor lamp that replaces the ceiling light: 65 kg of marble, a telescopic steel arc, a two-metre reach. Copied millions of times, never matched in balance. See the original and its alternatives →
2. Pipistrello — Gae Aulenti, Martinelli Luce, 1965
An opal shade shaped like bat wings on a telescopic stem. Designed for the Olivetti showrooms, it is the Italian lamp of Parisian interiors — and the other way round. See the original and its alternatives →
3. Atollo — Vico Magistretti, Oluce, 1977
A cylinder, a cone, a hemisphere: pure geometry turned into a lamp, Compasso d'Oro 1979. The hemisphere seems to float — therein lies all the mystery and all the design. See the original and its alternatives →
4. Eclisse — Vico Magistretti, Artemide, 1965
Two hemispherical shells, one of which rotates to dose the light, like an eclipse. Designed with the dark lanterns of Victor Hugo's thieves in mind — truly. See the original and its alternatives →
5. Tolomeo — Michele De Lucchi & Giancarlo Fassina, Artemide, 1987
The perfect articulated arm: exposed springs, matte aluminium, effortless balance. Quite simply the best-selling work lamp in the world. See the original and its alternatives →
6. Tizio — Richard Sapper, Artemide, 1972
No visible wire: the current runs through the arms themselves, held in counterweight. The lamp of 1980s architects, black, precise, indestructible. See the original and its alternatives →
7. PH5 — Poul Henningsen, Louis Poulsen, 1958
Shades calculated so that no bulb is ever visible, from any angle. The science of anti-glare turned into a pendant, hanging above half the tables in Denmark. See the original and its alternatives →
8. Akari — Isamu Noguchi, 1951
Noguchi visited Gifu and its cormorant-fishing lanterns; from them he drew two hundred "light sculptures" in washi paper. Light, literally, like the word akari — light and lightness. See the original and its alternatives →
9. Panthella — Verner Panton, Louis Poulsen, 1971
An opal mushroom in which the base reflects the light as much as the shade. The Portable version, tiny and rechargeable, had it rediscovered by a whole generation. See the original and its alternatives →
10. Parentesi — Achille Castiglioni & Pio Manzù, Flos, 1971
A cable stretched from ceiling to floor, a bracket-shaped tube that slides and holds by friction. No superfluous switch, no excess matter: design pared to the bone, Compasso d'Oro 1979. See the original and its alternatives →
And if you spotted one in a photograph?
Every piece on this list has its own reference page on Beyit, with the original, its history and alternatives at every price. And if a piece of furniture intrigues you in a photo — an Instagram interior, a film, a period house — scan it: Beyit identifies it.
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The pieces, at your budget.
Every piece mentioned, with its alternatives — from vintage to dupe.
