Gianni Celada, Katiuscia lamp for Fontana Arte

GIANNI CELADA (Milan, 1935) for Fontana Arte.
Table lamp "Katiuscia", 1969.
ABS plastic.
Adjustable capsule design.
Function. This product is an original vintage item, so it shows signs of wear from use.
Measurements: 34 x 26 x 11 cm.

The Katiuscia lamp (1969) is an icon of the Space Age style that stands out for its futuristic capsule silhouette and its ingenious functional character. Made entirely of ABS plastic (a material that marked the firm's break with its glassmaking tradition), the piece consists of a cylindrical body and an adjustable movable head that slides telescopically to regulate the opening of the light beam. This modular capability, coupled with its minimalist aesthetic and internal methacrylate diffuser, makes the Katiuscia a compact, sculptural "lighting machine" that perfectly captures the technological optimism and formal experimentation of the late 1960s.

Gianni Celada is an Italian architect and designer whose work epitomizes the sophistication of Milanese rationalism applied to avant-garde lighting and furniture. A graduate of the Milan Polytechnic, where he later taught, Celada achieved great notoriety during the 1960s and 1970s through his collaboration with the prestigious firm Fontana Arte, creating icons such as the Mongolfiera lamp (1968), which stands out for its opaline glass volumes, or the futuristic Katiuscia (1969), which embraces the Space Age aesthetic. His approach is distinguished by an architectural rigor that treats the object as a scaled-down structure, achieving a masterful balance between technical precision and plastic expressiveness that has placed his pieces among the most valued by contemporary Italian design collectors.