Parentesi

Better known for his work in automotive design, Manzù was considered one of Italy's most brilliant and inventive minds, and his first sketch of a suspended cylindrical lamp became the basis for today's Parentesi light.

Following Manzù's untimely death, a series of sketches illustrating his idea for a vertically suspended, sliding lamp were shown to Flos, and subsequently reworked by Achille Castiglioni, who refined Manzù's original project so that it could be manufactured on a large scale. Pio Manzù's ingenuity combined with Castiglioni's design skill transformed the world of art. Castiglioni turned the Parentesi lamp into the icon we know today. Every element of the lamp embodies Castiglioni's talent for weaving functionality into design: from the tension of the cable to the bracket holding the bulb, each element is a design gesture of utilitarian precision.

For its 50th anniversary in 2021, Parentesi returns in two shades paying tribute to its creators, in collaboration with the Fondazione Achille Castiglioni and the Fondazione Manzoni/Archivio Pio Manzù. The new colours include a turquoise inspired by the paint colour Castiglioni used in his home (and carefully recorded by the architect in his studio), and the signal orange favoured by Manzù for many of his automotive prototypes and industrial design creations. The anniversary edition also features a silicone base in matching colours.

Designed by Castiglioni in 1971, the Parentesi packaging became a transparent case clearly displaying each of the lamp's components. This design is now revived by Flos in a new sustainable format using recycled plastic to recreate Castiglioni's original vision for the lamp's compact case. As part of this anniversary edition, the collection remains faithful to the first version, with only a few essential, modern technical adjustments.