“I began making my lamps without knowing whether I would ever sell them. Success came suddenly, unexpectedly, without warning. I didn’t even know how to make them on a production line. This is how Catellani & Smith was born. Almost by chance. Logan Smith – who we encouraged people to believe was a London architect – was actually the name of the horse I had at the time. It was a way of not concentrating everything on me, giving myself credibility but also beginning an unbroken journey marked out by ongoing and spontaneous irony. I like to play down my creations. At the end of the day they are simply lamps. But I put all of myself into them, all my research, attention, expression. And I expect everyone working with me to do the same. It is a question of respect for those who believe in us and are moved by our products. I’m not a designer. I’m not an artist. And I don’t want to be either. I’m a person who loves what he does. Then other people like it too. [ continues ]
Since 1989 things have changed, the firm has grown, production has increased, research on the back of technology. Now we can do much more. Everything changed so that nothing would change. Our lamps are still made by hand today, in attractive workspaces. They are all made in Italy, on the banks of the Serio River… There’s no stress. Every lamp is given all the time it needs to be well made. Because ‘beautiful’ is subjective, ‘perfect’ isn’t. Today, when I think about what has been, it seems like a miracle…”
Enzo Catellani
Catellani & Smith was born.
With Turciù” and “Albero della Luce” Enzo Catellani starts his adventure creating and producing lights shown in his first catalogue “Oggetti senza tempo”, primarily highlighting the possibility of interaction with the lamp as the object-subject.
Switzerland – Geneva, Yanik Allison Gallery, installation with “Albero della Luce”.
Maguzzano – Lonato (Brescia), lighting in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.
Installation in Dresden (Germany), of the single “Albero della vita”: 5 metres tall, with 252 light bulbs and trunk and branches in gold leaf. Subsequently purchased by a German collector.
Ravenna, Godo, Villa Malagola: “Le Luci” installation.
With the collection “Luci d’Oro”, the main theme is a reflection about the colour of light: the golden light of the sun and the fire; warm lights where the concept of refraction starts to take shape.
Cervia (Ravenna): installation of lighting in the Magazzini del Sale complex, in collaboration with the Culture Department of Cervia.
Luci d’Oro installation for Dilmos show-room in Milan, with rough iron colums lined internally with gold coloured leaf. The limited edition of the “Sogni d’Oro” (“golden dreams”) bed is presented to the public; one of them was purchased by the artist Claudio Baglioni.
Genoa, Euroflora exhibition: installation of “O Sole mio gigante”, commissioned by Bayer.
Milan, Piazza Duomo: installation of “O Sole mio gigante”.
Milan, Ciak Theatre: Stchu-Moon installation.
On the occasion of the “Designer’s Saturday – Licht im Raum” in Düsseldorf, Enzo Catellani makes experiments with the technique of the illumination of the water with a fiberglass hemisphere diameter 2 meters. The low voltage bulbs are fully immersed in water, to generate moving light and beautiful effects of glowing.
USA – New York: installation of lighting in the See Gallery.
In Rue des Chartreux, Bruxelles is installed the first “Luna Piena Gigante”, a disc with a diameter of 2,5 meters completely lined with gold coloured leaf. Another piece installed in the same place is Albero della luce, 5 meters high, provided with 50 beams of optical fiber light.
Milano, Bovisa: Stchu-Moon Party
Netherlands – Amsterdam, Courtyard of the Marine Academy: “O Sole mio” and “Luna Piena gigante”.
On the occasion of the “International Photomeeting”, as tribute to the photographer Larry Burrows, Enzo Catellani creates the “Albero della Lucenera”, 6 meters high with 50 beams of directional light emitted by black carbon directional tubes.
Ascoli Piceno, Grottammare, Piazza Peretti: “Albero della Luce d’Oro” and “O Sole mio gigante” installation.
Bergamo, Porta Sant’Agostino
With “Lucenera” the process is inverted: the lamp sacrifices its “sculptural” value to leave space for the concept of “pure light”. The light source disappears making way for the illuminated subject.
Enzo Catellani is commissioned to create a huge special lamp (a one-off piece) for the Dante Room of Palazzo Poli, the backdrop to the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and which currently houses the National Institute for Graphic Design. The study conducted for that lamp laid the foundations for the development of the prototype for what would later become the most distinctive and best-known of Enzo Catellani’s works: “Fil de Fer”.
“Luci d’Oro” is presented in Tribeca, New York.
ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale) selects “Lucenera” for the 19th Compasso d’Oro award, and it was displayed in Palazzo dell’Arte in Milan (15 October – 18 November 2001).
Switzerland – Geneva: outdoor installation for the Christmas Tree Festival.
On the occasion of the fair “Abitare il Tempo” in Verona, Enzo Catellani presents Moon River, an out of collection creation: a river of aluminum supported by iron bases lets a stream of water flow, to be collected at its mouth by a large “Luna nel Pozzo”.
“Out Collection” comes to life, grouping together prototypes and concepts not included in any other collection. “Fil de Fer”, “Luna nel Pozzo”, “Luce che Dipinge”, made in limited series, now go into production.
Upon request of the artist Claudio Baglioni, Enzo Catellani sets up in Lampedusa the scenery for the “’O Scia” event. Together with the director Pepi Morgia he also takes care of the scenery for Baglioni’s concert at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari.
Milan, installation for “Earthly Paradise” with Fil de Fer custom.
A change of colour with “PostKrisi”, lamps in fiberglass in which light interacts with colour and shape in an interplay of transparencies and contrasts.
The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe – Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas – The Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe was erected in the heart of Berlin in 2005 by the famous American architect Peter Eisenmann. The work consists of an outdoor site of 19,000 square metres, which is covered with 2,711 concrete slabs (or stelae) arranged in a grid formation, and an underground information centre which proposes a tour through the memorial sites. In the Room of Places (Raum der Orte), witnesses of the holocaust sites can be seen and heard. The audiovisual media are illuminated by wall lamps from the Lucenera collection.
Gilda Bojardi, director of the magazine Interni, asks Enzo Catellani to create a work to be installed in Milan: the result is “La sfera incompiuta”, the unfinished spheres, 3 meters in diameter, made of exploded fiberglass, lined with gold coloured leaf outside and with silver coloured leaf inside, installed under the arc of Porta Romana, to light it for the whole duration of the events related to the fair Salone del Mobile.
In the space of Doriana and Massimiliano Fuksas and Mimmo Paladino, Enzo Catellani illuminates a collection of decorative objects and contemporary jewelry by large fiberglass domes.
In the gardens of the Triennale is installed a permanent version of “Fil de Fer” with a diameter of 3 meters manufactured with almost 22.000 meters of aluminum wire with a total weight of 350 kg. It is lit up by 400 bulbs (nowadays LED ones) creating the visual and emotional impact of a fallen cosmos.
©V&A Images/Victoria and Albert Museum/Galleries 12 to 16, Morris, Gamble and Poynter Rooms/Designed by MUMA/Lighting by Catellani And Smith / The restaurant-cafeteria of the prestigious Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the largest art and design museum in the world, is illuminated by 4 special Fil de Fer lights with a diameter of 2 metres, perfectly fitting into the style of the museum, which is characterized by modern design and quality craftsmanship.
Bergamo: “Lux Chaos Magnum” installation of for the Notti di Luce Festival.
Catellani & Smith lamps from the Stchu-Moon, Luci D’Oro, Fil de Fer collections illuminates the main spaces of Schloss Elmau, a unique Hotel & Spa resort situated in an enchanting mountain setting among the Bavarian Alps, 100 km from Munich.
On the occasion of Fuori Salone, “Casa della Luce” is lit up by “Atman”, a magical oval object made in pure crystal, whose steel base hides only one LED. “Atman” is a trail of sensations originating while travelling in India. Enzo Catellani spent a dark and grave period of his life with his mind and eyes full of a light that came from nothing, never abandoning him, and that he tried to make palpable and real. Atman has become light and with it the intention of travelling backwards to rediscover the initial instinct of doing, for the pleasure of creating.
Enzo Catellani is the guest of honor at “Habitat-Jardin” In Lausanne (Switzerland): the doors of Casa del Mago (House of the Magician) reopen. The name of the installation evocates the suggestive effects created by the installation of several scenic lamps, such as Moon River and the enchanting Luna nel Pozzo.
With “Eco-Logic Light” the magic of LED light shows up. This new invention enables to create an item with a poetic-aesthetic value, which can however give off the same light as the old light bulbs and thus enabling to make use of the concept of light from refraction, ever present in C&S recent works, added to the fact that LEDs do not require maintenance and replacement and last almost indefinitely if produced to high professional standards.
Fondazione ADI per il Design Italiano selected “Atman” for the ADI Design Index
Patrimoni Mundial (UNESCO) Barcelona, 2008 arch. Antonio Gaudı̀. The interiors of this real wonder of Spanish Modernism – built between 1904 and 1906 – have been illuminated by the prestigious creations of Catellani & Smith, that has decorated the noble floor, former residence of the Batlló family, with a “Macchina della Luce”, a sculpture-like suspension lamp that integrates perfectly with the golden colour that dominates the space. The wall lamps of “PostKrisi” collection, on the contrary, seem to capture light and shape its shadows, with a charming interplay between transparencies and contrasts. “Bella” wall lamps complete the selection made for Casa Batllò:this lamp, created between the 80s and the 90s by Enzo Catellani, it is now covered with gold coloured leaf, to represent the most classic Catellani & Smith style.
Twenty years of Catellani & Smith, no work, party only. 🙂
Bergamo, GAMeC (Bergamo Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery): installation of a “Luna Piena gigante” and of “Moon River”.
The former Neveri convent in Bariano, in the province of Bergamo, is one of the best preserved buildings of its kind. It stands on the site of the old Roman settlement of Vicus Aberga, parts of which have survived to this day. The desire to integrate the latest in technology into a building of such historical importance influenced the decision to choose exclusively LED light sources and equipment with linear and essential lines, which generate a subdued but efficient luminosity and at the same time highlight the historical and architectural character of the building without disturbing users with overly bright lamps or light sources. The result is a magical atmosphere that touches the sensitivity of the user.
At the Triennale di Milan for the exhibition “Triennale Serie Fuori Serie” appears an enormous skein of aluminum wire bearing a myriad of luminous points. A “cosmic” lamp and possible model of the universe.
Catellani & Smith collaborates in the replacement of the original light fittings in the Exchange Hall, providing 4 custom-made Fil de Fer lights with a diameter of 200 cm. The hall was the vital centre of the Stock Exchange where all types of goods were exchanged; today it is hired out for conferences and events.
One of his most famous lamps in the world, Fil de Fer, is selected as an example of excellence “made in Italy”, to be exhibited in the Italian Pavilion at the World Expo Shanghai 2010. This floor lamp will be permanently housed in the museum, which is still under construction in Shanghai.
Treviso, Asolo Art Biennale: installation at Galleria del Tempo.
Enzo Catellani is guest of honor at an event held in St. Petersburg, where he presents the Eco-Logic Light collection, in the presence of numerous journalists, representatives of the most important magazines specialized in design and furniture, and of some Russian televisions’ reporters.
The “Light Stick” lamp receives an Honourable Mention at the ADI Compasso d’Oro 2011.
An event dedicated the work of Enzo Catellani takes place in Singapore. In the frame of an old theater located in the heart of the city, he retraced all the extraordinary collections of Catellani & Smith until Sorry Giotto, which has been just created and has already won important awards.
Enzo Catellani takes part in events in Taipei and Hong Kong, always as a guest of honor. His lights have often been required for the scenography of movies and picture shows, as well as being purchased by many representatives of the Italian and foreign show business and published by the most prestigious international interior design magazines.
“PostKrisi” installation at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan. A big sphere lying on the ground, luminous and massive, completely covered with gold coloured leaf. A mix of ancient value and modern technology.
“Sorry Giotto” wins the Wallpaper* Design Award for the Best Floor Light, and ADI selects “Sorry Giotto” for the ADI Design Index 2012.
“Lederam” is the latest evolution of “Eco-Logic Light”: its name combines the LED technology with a new copper coloured leaf finish. The discs with their soft, warm colour enclosure a next-generation mains voltage LED-module. The collection is also available in different combinations of colours.
In cooperation with the architect Anton Kobrinetz, Catellani & Smith lights up Aldo Coppola’s new atelier “Kingdom of Beauty” in Corso Europa in Milan.
“Sorry Giotto” is displayed in Geneva, in the foyer of the prestigious WIPO headquarters, during the Meeting of the Member States of the Organisation, on the occasion of the exhibition of objects selected by ADI – Associazione Design Industriale to represent outstanding Italian design.
In conjunction with Expo Milano 2015, Enzo Catellani participated with a site-specific installation in “Alma Mater” by Yuval Avital, in dialogue with “Il Terzo Paradiso” by Michelangelo Pistoletto, at the Fabbrica del Vapore in Milan.
“Uomo della Luce” and “Fil de Fer” become the symbols of the “Fuori Expo” in Bergamo, in “Itinerari di Luce”, a project promoted by the Bergamo trade District to highlight the value of creativity and production capacity in the area, in the sectors of craftsmanship, industry and culture.
Catellani & Smith takes part in “I Maestri del Paesaggio” (Masters of the Landscape), an event organized by Arketipos and devoted to landscape architecture, this year focused on the theme of “Feeding landscape”. On the occasion it presents some prototypes of the coming outdoor collection.
The new outdoor collection, enriched with additional models, is exhibited to the public during the “Maestri del Paesaggio” 2016 edition dedicated to the “Wild landscape”.
During Fuori Salone in Milan, Catellani & Smith exhibits at “Casa della Luce” the light installation “Hallucinations”: intriguing light effects, obtained through a particularly refined and impeccable craftsmanship, make the ancient art of glass working still modern, thanks to the artistic collaboration with master glass-worker Giuliano Gaigher.
Lebanon – Beirut, Villa Audi Art Gallery, “Design Icons” exhibition (an anthology of the most significant objects of Italian design created from 1920 onwards): “Fil de Fer”.
The “Hallucinations” journey continues in New York, exhibited at ABC Home Gallery.
Enzo Catellani participates in the exhibition “Day, Light, Night” held at the Istanbul Modern Museum with the installation “Shadow”, an artwork that interprets the magical shadows of sunset, performing it with a selection of colours, in contrast with the darkness of the night.
With its rare beauty and stunning surroundings, Phi Beach in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, becomes the perfect location for the outdoor collection. Its breath-taking natural position offers every day the unique experience of one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world.
Catellani & Smith lighting products illuminate the new “Casual”, restaurant by Enrico Bartolini, the internationally renowned Michelin-starred chef. The “Casual Ristorante” is situated at the foot of the panoramic hill of San Vigilio , in the charming Upper Town of Bergamo surrounded by sixteenth-century Venetian walls, declared in 2017 Unesco World Heritage site.
One of the most recent and important collaborations of the year is with the MUDEC Museum of Culture in Milan via Tortona, a lively place, particularly during Milan Design Week. Catellani & Smith illuminates the museum’s restaurant, which is overseen by the multi-Michelin-starred chef Enrico Bartolini, with lamps from the “Light Stick” collection. These lights, thanks to their simplicity and sophistication and to the harmonious balance between light and shade, emphasize the pure, essential design of the wood panelling and white walls of the place.
Catellani & Smith takes part to the ambitious restoration project of the “Teatro Sociale Camogli”, whose doors reopen after 40 years of inactivity, thanks to the work of Studio Berlucchi in Brescia and Arassociati in Milan, providing a series of lamps with an extraordinary scenic impact, such as the great golden disc that hides a lighting source by Light Contract, the company that has designed the whole lighting project of the theater.
Catellani & Smith works with Hotel de Paris in Montecarlo, Principality of Monaco, to illuminate some restored key areas of one of the most prestigious Hotel in the world. The lights chosen are an LED version of “Disco” and a custom model of “Luna LED” wall lamp.
Catellani & Smith has found a home in the new Salvioni Milano Durini concept store, in via Durini 3, Milan. Designed by the architect Riccardo Rocchi, the show-room houses several display areas showing a selection of different living styles. Catellani & Smith lamps, which have been installed in this evocative place, intervene in the conversation between the furnishings and spaces, creating harmony and filling the rooms with light. A standard version and a customized model, made especially for the new concept store according to the specific needs of the space, of one of Catellani & Smith most important creations is associated to each floor of the building. The “Lederam”, “Fil de Fer”, “Luci d’Oro”, “Stchu-Moon” and “Turciù” series are some of the collections present inside the Salvioni Milano Durini showroom. In addition to the products designed for indoor lighting, the outdoor collection is also present: the light sources of the spheres of the iconic Fil de Fer and the other new outdoor creations create a magical atmosphere on outdoor terraces and vertical gardens.
Fil de Fer plays a starring role in the final stage design of the 2017 edition of the Andrea Bocelli concert in the “Teatro del Silenzio” in Lajatico (Pisa), featuring artists of international renown. The lamp, now a well-known icon of Catellani & Smith, is acknowledged as an invention deserving of protection according to copyright, as a work of industrial design of a creative nature and of artistic value.
Bergamo, Cloister of Santa Marta: Masenghini in Luce Exhibition (from 17 to 26 November): outdoor lighting of the cloister. Sypaduepassi custom also used to illuminate the old stone matrices used by the long-established Masenghini company.
“Resonance” by Enzo Catellani is an emotional and immersive walk through lights and sounds, created by more than 50 discs of different size covered in gold coloured leaf and lit by micro LEDs, hanging at different heights. With this project for the Fuori Salone in Milan, Enzo Catellani creates a clever balance of music, light and shade: a fascinating atmosphere that fills the eyes of visitors with wonder and leads them in discovery of light, in a “new light”.
Enzo Catellani creates a lighting installation as part of the Dilmos event “A matter of choice” in Milan. “To mark this year’s Fuorisalone, I enthusiastically accepted the proposal of my friend Sergio Riva to take part in his interesting project. The intention was to pay tribute to what highlighted the beginning of my adventure and the start of my collaboration with Dilmos, nearly thirty years ago. Precisely for this reason, the key components of the objects created are bulbs and the “flex”, now distinctive features of Catellani & Smith products, which have been reinterpreted and presented in a new version, which is completely different from the past but, at the same time, intends to pay it homage. The modification of certain details and the adoption of new technical solutions have been combined with new finishes. The result is a limited series of special items, which include floor and ceiling lamps, as well as a modular suspended lighting composition, whose main feature is that it can be extended to infinity. My thoughts go to my friend Andrea Salvetti, to whom I dedicate this installation.”
As happened in 2013 for the project of Kingdom of Beauty in Milan, the ateliers Aldo Coppola have selected once again Catellani & Smith’s lighting design for their first flagship store in Lugano. The new kingdom of beauty beyond the Alps was conceived from an idea by Aldo Coppola Jr and the expertise of the architect Anton Kobrinetz, to express a comprehensive concept of wellness, that includes exclusive treatments for hair and body care.
The collaboration with the Aldo Coppola Ateliers continues in Milan with the new shop at “La Rinascente” in a stunning location. On this occasion, beyond some of the products installed in Lugano, a new suspension named “Dress My Beauty” has been designed together with the architect Anton Kobrinetz.
For the second season, Phi Beach in Costa Smeralda, Sardinia, hosts the lamps of the outdoor collection in a breath-taking and unique location.
In December, Albero di Luce, Enzo Catellani’s sculptural reinterpretation of the traditional Christmas tree, is displayed for several days in the foyer of the Hotel de Paris in Montecarlo, during a charity auction to raise funds for Action Innocence Monaco.
ADA (Archiproducts Design Awards): “Giulietta BE T” is among the winners in the lighting category.
Germany – Ingolstadt, Audi Forum: outdoor installation of Fil de Fer Cascata.
Milan, Salvioni Milan Durini: Luigi XV installation.
In November, Enzo Catellani travels to Japan to learn more about the country’s culture; he produces a number of pictorial works, displayed starting from February 2020 in the National Art Center in Roppongi.
The 30th anniversary of Catellani & Smith. New creations presented for the first time at Euroluce and at the Fuorisalone in Milan, awakening great interest among visitors. Enzo Catellani’s 30th work anniversary and his “illuminated” thirty years at the helm of the company are celebrated with “Trenta”, a beautiful limited, numbered edition that reproduces the dimensions of the old incandescent bulb, the first light source Enzo Catellani began to work with when he founded the company.
The collection of lamps created for Catellani & Smith continues to grow, proving popular with the market, despite the difficulties and problems caused by the pandemic. A number of vintage models from the ‘Oggetti senza Tempo’ collection become the object of research and experimentation: the invention of a new patented heat sink has allowed for technological innovation, while maintaining the distinctive design features.
Bergamo, former Monastery of Astino: outdoor installation.
Catellani & Smith lamps light up the foyer of the Donizetti Theatre in Bergamo, renovated and restored in 2021, and a number of private rooms.
“U” lamp selected for one of the most renowned international awards for design excellence, and displayed in Athens at the “The Annual Good Design Show 2021”
Catellani & Smith receives the prestigious Alta Onorificenza di Bilancio award during the second national edition of the Industria Felix – L’Italia che compete Awards, held on 25 November in the Mario Arcelli Main Lecture Hall of the LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome, with the participation of high-profile guests from the world of politics and finance.
Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper, in collaboration with the well-known independent German research institute, selects Catellani & Smith as one of the 200 Italian firms that obtained outstanding export results in 2020.
Bergamo, former Monastery of Astino: outdoor installation.
Ettorino BIG receives an accolade at the Chicago Athenaeum “Good Design Awards 2022”.
For the second year running, Catellani & Smith receives the prestigious Alta Onorificenza di Bilancio award during the second national edition of the Industria Felix – L’Italia che compete Awards, assigned to the 203 most competitive and reliable Italian firms on the national business scene. Organised by the quarterly economics and finance publication (a supplement of Il Sole 24 Ore), the award is assigned based on an algorithm of competitiveness of Cerved, one of Europe’s leading ratings agencies.
“Ale BE T” is among the winners at Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting®.
“Ettorino T” takes the Best Table Lighting of the Year award at Prize Designs for Modern Furniture + Lighting®.
“Sfera W” receives an accolade at the Chicago Athenaeum “Good Design Awards 2022”.
“Ettorino BIG” is among the winners in the lighting category at the ADA (Archiproducts Design Awards).
“Sfera W” is among the winners in the lighting category at the ADA (Archiproducts Design Awards).
Catellani & Smith is selected as one of the most representative Italian companies for the 2023 edition of the Italian Design Day, dedicated to the lighting sector. The inauguration took place in Rome on 8 March, entitled “La qualità che illumina, l’energia del design per la persona e l’ambiente” (Illuminating quality: design energy for people and the environment). It was followed by other events in collaboration with the Italian Embassies worldwide, in which a selection of lamps created by Enzo Catellani was presented to the public.
Catellani & Smith takes part in the 31st edition of Euroluce, presenting new creations that celebrate the power of colour. for the first time, visitors had the chance to admire Ensō, the exclusive lamp designed by Enzo Catellani, inspired by a spontaneous movement that takes on a three-dimensional character. A sculptural lighting object that projects a soft light onto the wall.