Spectacular Flos!
Dynamic, impalpable, in the creations of the archidesigners it becomes a home-sized Versailles, a modular painting, a magic wand that breaks down the colours
At the Flos stand of over one thousand square metres, the Calvi Brambilla studio have not left anything out: starting with the delightful garden illuminated by Piero Lissoni’s metal outdoor lighting plates and Barber Osgerby’s path marker lights. And the show begins. Then light is put into the hands of juggler Michael Anastassiades who, not content with the admirable effects produced by his Arrangements collection (system of perfectly balanced aluminium macro-gems), doubles them with mirrors positioned on the floor.
Another room, another show. Anastassiades again gets to grips here with the Last Quarter table lamps made of Cocoon, a special resin in liquid form sprayed onto a steel frame that determines the shape of the lamp itself. Originally used by the US Army for packaging, it has been part of Flos’ identity since the beginning of its history in 1960, when it was used for some iconic pieces designed by Achille with Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and Tobia Scarpa.
Other scenes feature modular models such as Nendo’s Gaku series, but the coup de théâtre is the room dedicated to Philippe Starck’s La Plus Belle, who commented his work in this way: «Imagine the witch asking her mirror: ‘Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?’ In the dark, this does not work. In the dark, nothing exists, not even questions. Flos switched on the light around the mirror and Snow White appears.»
Amazement and fun between science and technology with Formafantasma’s Blush Lamp, equipped with a LED strip and dichroic glass that projects coloured reflections on the wall, evoking the memory of a summer’s day, even in winter. For lighting designers, there is a room of buttons or, rather, touch screens where you can create your own light show by experimenting with Smart Control, a technology developed by the Flos Architectural division to control and manage projectors and spotlights.