Arco Floor Lamp
Achille Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Flos
The Castiglioni brothers designed the Arco in 1962 around a simple problem: how to bring overhead light to a table without touching the ceiling. Their answer was a two-metre arc of stainless steel balanced by a block of Carrara marble heavy enough to hold it steady.
| Designer | Achille Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni (1962) |
|---|---|
| Maker | Flos, Italy |
| Materials | Carrara marble base with lifting hole; satin stainless steel telescopic stem; pressed and polished aluminium shade |
| Dimensions | 1850 mm wide x 2200 mm long x 2400 mm high (maximum); 64.11 kg |
| Versions | Arco (incandescent) and Arco LED (2700K, dimmable) |
| Price | USD 4,095 at TRNK, an established design retailer (Flos publishes no list price) |
| Recognition | ADI Compasso d'Oro Product Lifetime Achievement Award 2020; held in the permanent collection of MoMA |
Editorial link to the maker's official site, opening in a new tab. Not a paid placement.
Why Estate & Design selected it
The Arco is one of the rare designs that solved its problem so completely that nothing has replaced it. It lights a dining table, a reading chair or a whole corner of a room, and the marble base has become a sculptural object in its own right. Sixty years on, it still looks inevitable.
Estate & Design is not a retailer. Details were verified against the maker or publisher at the time of publication; availability and pricing may change.
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