From Nothing to Something: How Vico Magistretti's Atollo Lamp Makes a Statement
An out-of-the box design turned a light into an art piece.
“I love geometric shapes. I love doing essential things that look like nothing.” The words and philosophy of Italian architect and designer Vico Magistretti were written across the walls of an exhibition in 2020 to mark the centenary of his birth.
In 1977, having already designed an experimental Milanese neighbourhood, a church, numerous villas, plus the furniture within, Magistretti lit upon one of his most enduring creations. As principal designer and art director of Italian lighting company Oluce, his preoccupation with functional simplicity saw him redraw a bedside lamp, artfully balancing three solid shapes to arrive at the striking Atollo.
The silhouette was uncomplicated but the lamp integrated the latest technology to cast both direct and diffused light in a design so brilliant, it won the prestigious Compasso d’Oro award in 1979.
The Atollo is part of the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York and now a fixture in global design galleries and edgy film sets, including Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals.
And with lamps in the “mushroom” mould back in the limelight, Magistretti’s ever-elegant creation is popping up on consoles, bedsides and desks the world over. The small model starts at $1974, while originals can attract prices upwards of $5000 on 1stDibs.
Sonia Simpfendorfer, director of interiors at Nexus Designs, uses the Atollo in both period homes and contemporary settings. “I love its almost-too-big head resting on the slightly stubby pencil-point base,” she says. “It’s a highly engaging, timeless shape.”
Speaking to design magazine Domus in 1993, Magistretti said, “A piece of furniture becomes eternal if it can survive at least 50 years: after that, it is forever.” The designer died in 2006 but four years out from its 50-year milestone, Atollo ensures his legacy lives on.
