Oluce Canopy 421 White Suspension

Oluce Canopy 421 Suspension, designed by Francesco Rota.

'Canopy'' means ceiling plate: the simplest and most neglected element of the design of light, the one that, applied to the ceiling, conceals the wire coming out, is now enhanced (indeed, the design was developed out of a ceiling plate normally used at Oluce): its figurative power is revealed. Enlarged, it is turned into the reflector of an important suspension lamp. So far, this would amount to a mere new shape. The invention, however, lies in the use of a source, the ''circolina'' or circular lamp. Protected by a metal disk, the special bulb gives out an extremely soft and mysterious glimmer. ''Canopy'' draws from an important suspension lamp in the history of design, namely Magistretti's ''Sonora'', to revolutionize its shape and its lighting-technical principles.