It has a familiar name but it seems to have landed on Earth from another planet: just like when it was designed in 1969, the  Chiara lamp by Flos surprises and disconcerts with its unique shape, its size and the light it spreads. It is an over the top project that makes you think of a sculpture rather than a lamp, yet its conception is deeply rooted in the architectural method: it is in fact a sheet of polished stainless steel cut into a particular shape and rolled on itself form a cylinder at the base. The light source is now a LED and is located in the cylindrical part from which the light radiates upwards and then is reflected and diffused thanks to the structure and orientation of the hat, which resembles a nun's veil.

Chiara by Flos details

The outline is naturally the keystone of this project and  Mario Bellini began to work on paper, experimenting with different shapes before reaching this definitive one and even before taking the pencil and drawing: "It all happened like this, it just happened like this, a few tears here and there and the sheet wrapped around my hand took on, with its three-dimensionality, the image I was looking for. The drawings came later ”says Bellini in the book “Mario Bellini. Furniture, machines, objects” curated by Enrico Morteo (Phaidon 2015). One of the peculiarities that make Chiara appreciate is the non-visibility of the light source which makes it mysterious when it is on and very pleasant when it is off. Precisely because the technical elements, such as the light bulb and all that is needed to make it work, which when turned off are not very beautiful, are never seen here. The outline of Chiara remains, not easy to read and therefore captivating. After all, the architect, in his book "Design explained to children" (Bompiani 2018) says "When evening comes you have to turn on the light. I don't like lamps that show light bulbs because they annoy the eyes. So I've always designed lamps the way I like them. Thinking first about how to do the right thing when it gets dark and then about the shape to give to this light. So I designed a bulb in the shape of a nun that lets the light out of her white hat ”. A simple way to describe a project full of charisma and stage presence, which has remained faithful to itself over the years, and a cult object among design collectors.

Chiara by Flos

The novelties of the re-edition are the rubber profiling and the possibility to choose between the classic floor version in stainless steel and the small table version. The latter is very interesting, refined and fun at the same time, a new solution for desks, bedside tables, shelves and side tables. The size changes but the beauty and comfort of the light produced remain. The small is available in aluminum, dark gray and rose gold variants.

Chiara lamp by Flos

Chiara is a lamp that fills the space but without arrogance and still surprises, Chiara, after fifty-one years of life. It is surprising because, unlike other icons of the 70s, it has a timeless style. It could have been designed today, perhaps even tomorrow and this is precisely its strength: to tell a profound knowledge of the project but to hide the passage of time. And this is exactly what you can expect from a designer who has been awarded the Compasso d’oro eight times.

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