Parentesi by Flos

A little while ago a few long waited packages finally arrived from Italy. For some time already, Pekka had been doing what he loves, in other words furiously hunting down vintage lights. More specifically, this time it was lights called Parentesi, and finally they were here!

Parentesi by Flos

The Parentesi light was designed by two italian designers Achille Castiglioni and Pio Manzu for the manufacturer Flos. After its launch in 1971 it had been accepted to the permanent collections of various museums around the world, including the MoMa in New York and the Triennale design museum in Milan. The light was also honored with the Compasso d'oro design award in 1979.

From below

The name of the light relates to the shape of its central component, a metallic tube resembling a parenthesis sign. The core concept of the light is very simple: a light source that can be moved up and down and turned 360 degrees in a steel wire, which is attached to the ceiling, extended straight down and held in its place by a weight. 

The light source

The simplicity of the Parentesi light is impressive. Not only because the product consists of only nine parts, but also due to the ingenuity of how the bulb assembly is held in position - only by the shape of the metallic tube.

The floor weight

With the nearly global ban of incandescent bulbs it is getting increasingly difficult to find the right kind of bulbs for these old lights. One might choose to use a more modern light source instead, even a LED, but it just wouldn't be the same than an old bulb. 

Bulbs sourced through eBay

When the Parentesi lights first arrived they were closely inspected. Then they had a warm bubble bath to rid the years of dust and dirt from all surfaces.

Some TLC

Even though there is now a Parentesi light in our dining room (the Coupé has moved downstairs) originally we wanted to have them for the staircase. Pekka's vision for this vertical space was that the lighting should somehow be in line with the proportions of the space and enhance the vertical experience. Also, we will be adding a wall decoration to one of the white walls, and the Parentesi arrangement with a steel wire holding up the two light sources is ideal for highlighting details.

Installation at 6 meters

In terms of installation, the challenge was that the space is more than 6 meters high. Therefore, some creativity was needed to develop a system to facilitate installation. An aluminum ladder, empty box of cereal, and the support from the handrail and opposite wall was all that Pekka needed to successfully solve the problem!

Dare to step on?

Very soon we noticed that switching on the two 150W incandescent bulbs at the same time creates not only a lot of light but also also a significant amount of heat. Fortunately, these type of bulbs are also available in 105W. Whereas the 150W bulb works perfectly in the dining room corner, for the staircase we might prefer a little less light. So the system needs to be modified one more time.

Lights on!

Now that the Parentesi lights have been installed to the corner of the staircase and are lighting up the wall we are ready to start with the wall decoration. We received the pieces a while a go and they have been just waiting for the installation of the lights. Very exciting - stay tuned!

An empty wall - not for long