Luciano Baldessari for Luceplan

LUCIANO BALDESSARI (Rovereto, Italy, 1896 – Milan, 1982) for Luceplan.
“Luminator” floor lamp, 1993.
Chrome-plated steel and Plexiglas.
Features the original sticker.
Measurements: 190 x 70 cm.
The Luminator is one of the most unique creations of the Italian avant-garde of the interwar period and an exceptional example of how Baldessari transformed lighting into an architectural and sculptural element. Conceived from his early studies of a “luminous mannequin” begun in 1926, the project was completed in 1929 and presented at the Barcelona International Exposition, where Baldessari also participated in the design of exhibition spaces. The original 1929 Luminator was not exactly a lamp in the modern sense, but rather a luminous mannequin/metal structure conceived by Baldessari for the Bernocchi Pavilion at the 10th International Exhibition of Milan in 1929. Its characteristic vertical structure, with clean lines and marked dynamism, supports an indirect light source that projects light toward the ceiling, creating a warm atmosphere and transforming the space rather than merely illuminating it. Decades later, Luceplan revived and industrially produced the design, helping to restore a fundamental piece of Italian experimentation with light to the history of contemporary design. A specimen/prototype of Luciano Baldessari’s Luminator is held in the collections of the MART—Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto.
Luciano Baldessari was an Italian architect, designer, and set designer, a leading figure of the 20th-century Italian avant-garde. Trained in architecture at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, he developed a career marked by experimentation and the integration of architecture, design, lighting, and the performing arts. During the 1920s and 1930s, he also worked abroad, particularly in Germany, where he came into contact with the modernist architectural movements and the Bauhaus. Upon his return to Italy, he became involved in Milan’s rationalist scene and designed exhibition spaces, interiors, installations, and furniture.