The history of Arco by Flos is the tale of the success of a product which, created with a clear functional purpose, immediately positioned itself as the progenitor of a new category of lights for interior furnishings: floor lamps with the soul of those suspended.
Arch lamp, in fact, but also AN arch lamp, and not just any one, but the first in history.
How it was born
It was 1962 when, for the first time, the Arco lamp saw the light. Its revolutionary design, with its arched arm and marble base, was immediately acclaimed for its combination of functionality and aesthetics.
The signature is that of two of the greatest light designers of all time: the brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni.
The inspiration is simple and essential: the street lamp.
The idea remains simple and essential, but also becomes ingenious: a mobile suspension, capable of illuminating objects with a suspended and central light, but without limiting their positioning in space.
How it’s made
Using the words spoken by Achille Castiglioni himself, in Arco “nothing is decorative: even the beveled edges of the base have a function […] and even the hole is not a fantasy” (spoiler: it is not intended to replace the magazine rack).
As always, it is the details that make the difference and characterize its functionality:
the Carrara marble base, which simultaneously gives stability (weighs 65kg) and a touch of luxury and refinement to the overall design, has rounded corners so as not to bump into it, and a hole to move it easily. In fact, to transport the lamp, all you need to do is pass a broom handle through the hole.
The long and flexible stainless steel arm, made up of three telescopic arches, allows the light to be centralized with a maximum slant of 2 m compared to the vertical projection of the marble block. This results in the famous positioning of light, centralized on an object but with the freedom to move around it.
The spherical and adjustable lampshade is perforated, to allow the light cap to cool and also to create an interesting play of light and shadow on the ceiling. Furthermore, it can be adjusted in height and angle, so as to direct the light specifically.
Fun fact: initially, the Castiglioni brothers had imagined the Arco with a concrete base. Then they changed their mind because, with the same weight, the marble base would have been lighter and cheaper in finish… and, we add, more luxurious and refined.
How she is rewarded
The Arco lamp by Flos has received various prestigious awards over the years, recognitions that attest to its importance in the world of industrial design. It has had enormous success because it is not only a global emblem of industrial and Italian design, but it is also among the best known and most appreciated products on the market.
It is the first industrial design object to be granted copyright in 2007, like works of art, and is included in the permanent collections of the MoMA in New York and the Triennale in Milan.
In 2020, as proof of the revolutionary scope of its concept, it won the Compasso d’Oro for Lifetime Achievement. This is also a record, given that never before the XXVI Compasso d’Oro had products created many years earlier been awarded “lifetime achievement” awards. But the truth is that, despite its long-lasting success, Arco seems to have been born yesterday; eternal and timeless, as few icons are capable of being.
