SALISCENDI pendant light

Saliscendi and Stilnovo

As the light source rises and moves away from the table surface, there is more light in the room, but the illumination is weaker. This is where the lampshade - now much closer to the light source - comes into play to reflect the indirect radiation and increase the amount of light diffused into the surroundings. To this day - and more than five decades have now passed - this lighting concept is absolutely unique, yes daring and still visionary. Just the right challenge for a company like Stilnovo, because no challenge is too great for company founder Bruno Gatta.

Intimacy and illumination

The 'Sala della Giunta' was designed by the Castiglioni brothers at the end of the 1950s with a mahogany floor and walls covered in hazelnut cloth, on which a collection of paintings by Gaetano Previati was arranged. The large table and the shelves are in light walnut wood. It is therefore necessary to position a luminaire above the conference table that can do both: illuminate the entire room and create intimacy. It quickly becomes clear that the width of the table and the size of the room require two light sources in addition to a large-area luminaire, as the Castiglioni brothers did not consider a single light source to be sufficient.

Light - direct and indirect

Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni had an intuition when developing and refining their luminaire concept in 1957. They developed a movable luminaire that was able to change the intensity of the light by using a system of rollers to move it either upwards or downwards. This system alone makes it possible to move the light source up and down and thus change the light intensity both on the table and in the surroundings.

Up and down

At the same time, this same system offers the option of positioning a light-reflecting panel above the light source closer or further away. Direct and indirect light - both together. Disc and lamp body slide in opposite directions along the cable suspension and move closer or further away respectively. The distance between the two luminaire elements changes with a simple movement, a pointer that reaches into the loop provided in the base of the luminaire body and pushes up or pulls down, 'saliscendi' - Italian for 'up and down' - depending on what is required.

From 120 to 60 centimeters

During the restructuring of the Chamber of Commerce in Milan in the early 2000s, the two prototypes of the Saliscendi pendant light were almost destroyed. Their size, with a diameter of 120 centimetres, would have been too large and impractical for a market launch anyway. All elements of the Saliscendi pendant light have therefore been halved in size compared to the original, including the reflective disc, which has shrunk from 120 to 60 centimetres. The cable pull system has been redesigned to achieve smoother running and smoother operation. The coiled power cable of the past has been abolished. The suspension cables, along which the parts of the Saliscendi run, now also serve as the power supply. Last but not least, state-of-the-art lighting technology is used: Two LED sources provide a soft, pleasant double beam, which can even be dimmed using standard technical devices thanks to DALI control.

Saliscendi - our conclusion

Today, the heart of the Saliscendi pendant light beats to the beat of the zeitgeist and in the colors white gray, grass green and ruby red, without having lost the charm of the past. The pendant light Saliscendi, licensed re-edition of the original based on a design by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni from 1957, is available from the Stilnovo partner TAGWERC available in all versions.

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