The Story

The story of Parentesi starts with the premature death of designer Pio Manzu, a unique design talent who designed the Fiat 127. Castiglioni knew his work, but they had never met. Manzu’s widow showed his sketches to Castiglioni and one of them caught his attention. A cylindrical tin with slots, which radiated light and rested on a rod from ceiling to floor, thanks to a screw it could make a half turn, and move up and down and stop.

Castiglioni saw the potential and further developed Parentesi with the Flos Technicians. The rod was replaced by a metal wire. The lamp was placed on a curved tube that could slide over the metal wire. The curvature in the tube creates resistance, so the lamp can stay in place without the screws. The metal wire was tensioned with a boat tensioner on the ceiling and a counterweight on the floor.

To this day, Parentesi is still a desirable pendant lamp that can be used throughout the house. Whether in the living room or in the bedroom, this pendant lamp creates a fantastic architectural effect with its ceiling-to-floor cable and highly efficient lighting.

The Parentesi pendant lamp is a unique and versatile lamp. It hangs, but is not always used as a pendant lamp. It can be mounted in a corner of a room, instead of a floor lamp, or next to the bed, instead of a table lamp.

The Parentesi pendant lamp is available in different colours and you can also choose a dimmable version. It is also possible to extend the basic Parentesi with an extra element.