PARENTESI FLOS 🇮🇹 Castiglioni & Manzù, 1972

Parentesi Lamp Achille Castiglioni & Pio Manzù, 1971

Parentesi is a simple and very versatile lighting system, born from the collaboration of the Italian designers Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu in 1971. The principle: a wire cable is fixed to the ceiling, and weighted on the floor; on this wire cable can be inserted one or more steel tubes each carrying an orientable spot. All that remains is to plug the electrical cable into a wall socket, and activate the switch on the spot. At any time, the height of the tube with spot as well as the orientation of the spot itself can be adjusted, with a simple gesture of the hand.

This system with its simple and industrial style will serve as a pendant, a floor lamp, extra lighting ... according to your wishes. Parentesi will find its place as well near a sofa, a bed, a work plan, or in a lounge area. Its light can be direct, to illuminate a particular place, or indirect to create mood lighting.

Parentesi received the prestigious Compasso d'Oro Design Award in 1979 and is part of the permanent collections of the Triennale Design Museum in Milan.

Tube with spot H58cm Ballast Ø11cm Ceiling fixture Ø6.5cm Ceiling-to-floor cable 4m Weight 3kg

Materials elastomer, steel

Light source 1 x E27. Bulb not included (sold separately). With or without electronic dimmer on the cable. 4m long cable. Switch on the spot.

Parentesi – Red
with switch

Parentesi – Black
with switch

Parentesi – White
with switch

Parentesi D – Red
with dimmer

Parentesi D – Black
with dimmer

Parentesi D – White
with dimmer

Parentesi – Nickel
with switch

Parentesi D – Nickel
with dimmer

Additional spots and bulbs

You can customize your Parentesi lamp by adding spots on the wire rope.

Spot Parentesi D – Red
with dimmer

Spot Parentesi D – Black
with dimmer

Spot Parentesi D – Blanc
with dimmer

Spot Parentesi – Red
with switch

Spot Parentesi – Black
with switch

Spot Parentesi – Blanc
with switch

Spot Parentesi D – Nickel
with dimmer

Spot Parentesi – Nickel
with switch

Parentesi lamps and additional spotlights are sold without bulbs. Flos recommends supplementing these products with the bulbs below.

Parentesi Bulb RF32366
LED E27 12W 1180 lm 2700K R125 dimmable

Parentesi Bulb RF31459 - frosted
LED E27 13W 1300 lm 2700K dimmable

Achille Castiglioni & Pio Manzù

Achille Castiglioni

Achille Castiglioni was born in Milan in 1918. He graduated from Politecnico di Milano University with a degree in architecture in the late 1930s and, shortly after, set up a design office with his brothers Livio and Pier Giacomo in Milan.

There, he dedicated himself to experimenting with industrial products. Achille, along with his brothers, went on to become one of the most renowned industrial designers in post-war Italy. He was one of the founding members of Association for Industrial Design (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, ADI), established in 1956.

His works are included in permanent collections in museums all around the world, including 14 pieces at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The designer has won nine “Compasso d′Oro” awards, including a special mention as an individual dedicated to industrial design who, by means of his incomparable experience, “elevated industrial design to the highest levels of culture,” in 1989.

his lifetime, he designed and collaborated on close to 150 objects. Many of Achille Castiglioni’s lighting products are still in production today.

Pio Manzù

Pio Manzù, son of the famous italian sculptor Giacomo Manzù, designer who died prematurely in 1969, when he was just 30, has been defined by Gillo Dorfles «one of the most serious inventors of a new current in contemporary Italian design». In his short career Pio Manzù has left a strong sign in the field of design: he was the author of the Fiat 127, one of the most successful models in the history of the Italian motor industry, and has designed many objects for big firms such as the Parentesi light for Flos, together with Achille Castiglioni; the Cronotime for Ritz Italora (later produced by Alessi) and the desk tidy for Kartell.

Parentesi – Flos

A. Castiglioni & P. Manzù, 1971

Additional spots and bulbs