A bright kid

Richard Sapper: Tizio Table Lamp, 1970/72

Richard Sapper spent a lot of time working at his desk and for that he needed light directly above his workplace. He was looking for a movable lamp whereby the light could be adjusted to be directed over the piles of books on his desk. The head of the lamp should not get in the way and therefore had to be fairly small.

As he could not find a suitable lamp in the shops, he simply designed his perfect lamp himself, using a fairly new technology: the halogen bulb. These bulbs shone very bright, emitting a better light than the other illuminants that were common back then. However, the most significant aspect was that these new bulbs were very small and therefore allowed him to reduce the size of the reflector.

Richard gave his lamp a heavy foot so that it would not tip over when moved or swivelled. Furthermore, with its two perfectly balanced counterweights, the lamp can be adjusted to many different heights and directions.