Viscontea

“Cocoon” refers to the appearance of the light fixture and to the Cocoon technology, actually a method to protect military vehicles from weathering. In the 1950s, Arturo Eisenkeil from Merano, Italy, came up with the idea of using the cobweb-like synthetic resin covers in furniture design as well. In 1960, the Flos Taraxacum and Viscontea pendant lights and the Gatto table lamp were all created by the Castiglioni brothers based on this principle. The products were re-edited by Flos.

These lights’ delicate shell is not – as one might initially assume – a conventional textile that is stretched over the structure. In fact, whoever thinks of cobwebs when looking at the lights is much closer to the truth: the ultra-thin synthetic resin fibers are sprayed onto the structure until they form a fabric and gently envelop the underlying figure like a cocoon. The fibers can still be clearly recognized in the resulting surface and give the light fixture a natural, organic character – and make each lamp in the collection unique.