FontanaArte Lights & Lamps
FontanaArte's key strength are sophisticated Italian small items of furniture and home accessories made of glass. Design lamps constitute the core of the collection. This traditional company is one of the world's leading manufacturers in the area of lighting. Over time, the company based in Corsico has launched many lamps, which are now considered timeless design classics and are still in production like the table lamp Giova or the floor lamp Luminator. Some of these light fixtures are collector's items and are exhibited in famous museums around the world. Many light fixtures by FontanaArte have been awarded design prizes such as the red dot award, the iF product design award and so forth. FontanaArte also develops lighting concepts for private and public spaces like restaurants, museums and theaters, as for example the Teatro Civico in Tortona. The company also designs outdoor lighting concepts as can be seen on the Piazza San Giovanni in Gubbio.
The luxury brand dates back to 1881. It was then that Luigi Fontana founded a plate-glass manufacturing company. Its program later also comprised order production and decorative interior design objects. The designer and architecture professor Gio Ponti joined the company in 1931, progressively turning FontanaArte into a brand that specialized in small designer pieces of furniture and home accessories made of glass. Joining forces with glass maker Pietro Chiesa, Gio Ponti decided to separate FontanaArte from Luigi Fontana's company in 1932. The manufacturing of designer lights and other furnishings resulted in significant growth and success in the following years. The company was acquired by Nice SpA in 2010. In October 2016 the brand was taken over by the ItalianCreationGroup, which owns several high-end Italian design companies.
Fontana lamps and home accessories delight with aesthetics, in conjunction with functionality and timeless design. Because of its long history, the brand plays a major role in the history of Italian design. Glass is the main material of Fontana lamps, exemplifying the skilled craftmanship of glass makers, who for certain lamps still apply very traditional methods. Not only the light fixtures but also the furniture by FontanaArte is manufactured with great care. They combine pleasant aesthetics with sophisticated functionality. Be it matching floor, pendant and table lamps of one collection or a glass table on wheels - each design by FontanaArte are guaranteed to meet the challenges of daily life.
There is a large variety of FontanaArte lamps. Some have been designed by renowned designers like Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa and Max Ingrand. The portfolio encompasses designer classics, some of which were designed at the very beginning of the company's existence, and other feature new designs, characterised by the latest technical developments. The table lamp Bilia was designed by Gio Ponti in 1931. It has a glass sphere on top of a metallic cone. The floor and pendant lamps in the 0024 series, based on a design made by Ponti in 1932, are composed of several horizontal glass plates arranged on top of each other. The Fontana lamp designed by Sergio Asti in 1968 made such a big impression on the world of design that it is now exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It has a compact, simple shape which is fully illuminated. An example of the more recent lamps are for example the LED lamps Siptel by Giulio Iacchetti, where the luminaire body can be moved by using a magnetic system. Modern LED technology is also applied in the Volée series devised by Odo Fioravanti. These FontanaArte lamps come equipped with a movement detector for switching the light on and off.
Alongside lamps, FontanaArte also features small pieces of furniture and accessories in its portfolio. There are also design classics from the early days. One of them is Tavolino, a table which features two round glass discs, designed by Gio Ponti in 1932. That same year Pietro Chiesa created the vase Cartoccio, an extraordinary home accessory composed of glass plates with multiple bends. The table Fontana is a popular classic, also designed by Pietro Chiesa. The couch table available in four sizes consists merely of a thick glass plate which has been bent twice. Gae Aulenti who was the art director of the company for many years is also responsible for the tables on wheels. She designed the table Tavolo con Ruote on freely rotating wheels in 1980. She developed it further in 1993 and created the table Tour, a higher, extraordinary version resting on bicycle wheels.
