Ettore Sottsass for Design Centre/Poltronova ‘Bruco’ Wall Lights

Ettore Sottsass for Design Centre/Poltronova, ‘Bruco’ wall light from the Mobili Grigi series, chrome-plated brass, methacrylate (translucent Perspex), enameled aluminum, Italy, 1970

This ‘Bruco’ wall light is created by Ettore Sottsass as part of the Mobili Grigi collection for Poltronova and produced by Design Centre in 1970. The advancements in lamp technology have influenced the design of lighting fixtures. The Bruco light was created as a result of the use of breakthrough materials and technologies of the seventies. Designers started experimenting with other types of lighting in the 1960s and early 1970s, including halogen bulbs, fluorescent and neon tubes. During this period, the designer’s material options were also expanded by newly developed plastics, from spray-on ‘Cocoon’ (a self-skinning PVC) to translucent Perspex (methacrylate). Besides the technological shifts, the experimental, anything-goes designs that pushed the limits of lighting and art were a direct result of the social freedoms that characterized this period. The lighting object by Sottsass is comprised of an undulated lampshade executed in methacrylate (translucent Perspex). The interior holds a fluorescent tube that provides an atmospheric and mesmerized light partition. The lamp’s framework comprises a thin structure executed in chrome-plated brass. Ettore Sottsass excels in creating new forms for traditional objects that go well beyond simply fulfilling a practical need.