Arco, a design icon

Designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni in 1962. This ingenious floor lamp is one of the most imitated design icons ever, and there are several versions of how it came to be designed. It was an experiment that Flos embraced from the beginning, and the result is an enduring classic.

Designers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, 1962 - Photography Courtesy of Fondazione Achille Castiglioni, Studio Casali, Piero Fasanotto, Ramak Fazel, Gionata Xerra

Arco_sketches — This visionary synthesis of genius, simplicity and perfection, was simply in response to the need for a suspension lamp that could shine its light on a table without requiring holes to be drilled in the ceiling.

This ingenious floor lamp is one of the most imitated design icons ever.

The heavy marble base is in fact nothing more than a counterweight to support the big arched metal stem, which was inspired by street light design. And the hole at the base’s center of gravity wasn’t put there for decoration, but to make it easier to lift the base by pushing something like a broom handle through it.