30 November 2015
An innovative idea, a satisfactory realization, a good design, harmony between form and function and a good quality-price ratio: there are many factors involved in the (lasting) success of a product. The multi-award winning Tizio table lamp epitomizes them all. It was designed for Artemide, in 1972, by the naturalized Italian Richard Sapper, born in Germany in 1932: a not very prolific perfectionist, who perhaps partly for these reasons was able to achieve long-lasting results: it suffices to think of the products he designed for Brionvega (with Marco Zanuso) and of the kettle, coffeemakers and pots for Alessi. Tizio itself has never gone out of production. Indeed over the years it has been joined by new versions and was for a long time the company’s top-selling item. The concept is simple: a desk lamp producing direct and concentrated light, whose base does not take up much space and does not need to be fixed with a clamp, and which is adjustable and lightweight. And the solution found is an ingenious one: a transformer, set at the base, lowers the voltage and powers the bulb through rods and buttons that, as well as having a structural function, act as conductors of the current, eliminating the need for traditional electric wires. The form is essential: a cylindrical support, two counterweights and a head-reflector with a double wall to keep it cool. Ever since the seventies it has lent an aesthetic touch to offices and prestigious apartments, and even when Artemide found a new bestseller in Michele De Lucchi’s Tolomeo, the iconic aura of Tizio has remained intact, a genuine milestone of the Made in Italy label.
