CATELLANI & SMITH. Italy.
Ceiling lamp "Macchina della Luce A".
Aluminium and copper covered with gold leaf.
Measurements: 100 cm. height; 80 cm (larger diameter).
Macchina della Luce comes from the Luci d'Oro collection, a reflection on the colour of light. Catellani&Smith proposes a powerful design with great visual impact. The sculptural structure is made up of four discs of decreasing size, inserted in descending order from top to bottom. The light is born as a reflection in the colour of the lamp itself, where the concept of refraction begins to take shape. Simplicity is apparent, revealing a design and production know-how capable of resolving complexity into elements and details that disappear into the main structure.
The firm Catellani & Smith was founded in 1989 by the blacksmith Carlo Catellani and the architect Logan Smith, with the idea of starting a project of handcrafted production of decorative lamps and objects of use. Their non-conformist minds chose a path of almost peasant tranquillity, typical of those who have lived away from the stresses of business and the pressures of productivity, a path that evokes pre-industrial remoteness and leads us to a work made with hands and mind. This biographical note, spread all over the world, has been a great success because it has been declared imaginary; Catellani is called Enzo (Carlo is his father's name), and Logan Smith is not an architect but Enzo Catellani's racehorse. The idea of publishing an imaginary biography is a provocation that perfectly describes Enzo Catellani's ironic attitude towards the self-referential world that dominates certain design.