Flos

Flos brand philosophy

Since its foundation in 1962, Flos has changed the way artificial lighting is understood. While many manufacturers viewed a light fixture as a functional interior object, Flos made lighting an architectural tool that shapes space, influences the perception of volume and creates an emotional living experience.

The name Flos means “flower” in Latin and reflects the brand philosophy: light should unfold naturally in space, like a living organism. Company founders Dino Gavina, Cesare Cassina and the Gandini family set an ambitious goal from the beginning: to create not a light-fixture factory, but a creative laboratory where designers could experiment freely. This approach helped Flos become one of the first companies to turn industrial production into an intellectual think tank that brought together engineers, architects and artists.

Flos brand philosophy rests on several principles:

Light as an architectural material

For Flos, light is not an addition to an interior, but a complete architectural element. Light can visually change the scale of a room, emphasise spatial geometry and create atmosphere.

Innovation without compromise

Almost every period in Flos history brought technological discoveries, from the use of the Cocoon material in the 1960s to modern LED systems, intelligent lighting control and the integration of lighting into architectural structures.

Timeless design

Flos has never aimed to follow fashion. Flos creates objects that remain relevant for decades. Many models developed more than sixty years ago still belong to the brand collection with almost no changes.

A dialogue between art and industry

Every Flos light fixture results from collaboration between engineers and leading designers. The collaboration gives Flos products artistic expression together with precise functionality.

Designers who shaped Flos DNA

Throughout its history, Flos has collaborated with dozens of notable architects and designers. Many collaborators influenced the development of global product design.

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni were the principal creative thinkers behind the brand and the authors of many famous Flos light fixtures. Their projects became benchmarks of intelligent design, combining engineering logic with light irony. The Castiglioni brothers created the legendary Arco, Taccia, Snoopy and other models that entered the history of industrial design.

Tobia Scarpa

Tobia Scarpa brought structural clarity and respect for materials to Flos collections. Scarpa works demonstrate a precise balance between architecture, engineering and craftsmanship.

Philippe Starck

Philippe Starck is one of the best-known contemporary designers. Starck began working with Flos in the 1980s, opening a new chapter in brand history. Starck combined functionality with emotion and turned the light fixture into an object of cultural expression.

Jasper Morrison

Jasper Morrison represents the “Super Normal” philosophy and creates highly restrained, honest objects. Morrison projects for Flos show restraint without becoming dull.

Konstantin Grcic

Engineering, industrial aesthetics and technological expression make Konstantin Grcic works some of the most recognisable designs in the contemporary Flos collection.

Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola added emotion, fluid forms and confident use of colour and texture to the brand. Urquiola projects present a softer and more sensual understanding of light.

Michael Anastassiades

Michael Anastassiades is one of the key Flos designers of recent years. Anastassiades minimalist collections explore balance, gravity and pure geometry, turning the light fixture into an almost weightless architectural object.

Iconic Flos collections

Over more than six decades, Flos has created dozens of iconic models. Many models now belong to the permanent collections of leading design museums.

Arco (1962)

Arco is widely regarded as the most famous floor lamp in the history of industrial design.

A monumental Carrara marble base, telescopic steel arc and suspended shade solve the problem of overhead lighting without ceiling installation. Arco is now considered a symbol of 20th-century Italian design.

Taccia

Taccia is an indirect-light lamp that its creators called an “anti-ceiling lamp”. The aluminium reflector produces soft, diffused light suited to residential interiors.

Snoopy

Snoopy is a table lamp with a distinctive enamel shade and white marble base. Snoopy is one of the most recognisable Flos objects, combining functionality with irony.

Parentesi

Parentesi introduced a major engineering advance.

The lamp moves along a steel cable stretched from floor to ceiling, allowing the light source height to change with one hand movement. Flos received the Compasso d'Oro award for Parentesi.

IC Lights

IC Lights is Michael Anastassiades collection, built around the illusion of perfect balance. A glass sphere appears to rest on a thin metal line, challenging familiar ideas about gravity.

Coordinates

Coordinates is a graphic system of illuminated aluminium lines that creates architectural compositions in space.

Arrangements

Arrangements is a modular series of illuminated geometric elements. Architects can use Arrangements to create individual lighting installations.

Noctambule

Noctambule is a collection of cylindrical glass modules that almost disappear when switched off and become a luminous architectural column when switched on.

Flos in interior design

Flos is now viewed as more than a decorative-lighting manufacturer. Architects use Flos as a complete tool for designing space.

Private interiors

In premium residences, Flos light fixtures serve as architectural accents.

Arco becomes the compositional centre of a living room.
IC Lights creates a soft, intimate atmosphere in bedrooms and lounge areas.
Taccia creates reflected light in studies and libraries.
Coordinates emphasises the geometry of double-height spaces and stair halls.
Noctambule becomes an independent light sculpture.
Public spaces

Flos is widely used in the design of:

five-star hotels;
luxury boutiques;
fine-dining restaurants;
museums;
art galleries;
corporate headquarters.

The Flos professional division offers comprehensive architectural lighting systems. The systems allow light to be integrated almost invisibly while preserving the clarity of an architectural composition.

Why designers choose Flos

For professionals, Flos is more than a collection of iconic light fixtures. Flos gives designers the opportunity to work with light as an architectural material and create complex spatial experiences. Flos products work naturally in minimalist, modern classic, contemporary, Japandi, modernist and luxury interiors.

For more than six decades, Flos has shown that authentic design does not age. Technologies, light sources and materials change, while the brand philosophy remains constant: light should not simply illuminate space, light should create space.