Willy Rizzo Inspiration

This is a vintage steel metal table lamp B.D. Luminica, inspired by the ’70s designs of Willy Rizzo.

Size cm 25 x 25 x 42

Willy Rizzo (1928-2013) designed and produced more than thirty pieces of furniture, including the famous steel-banded travertine dining tables and bronce table lamps, all of which were handmade. He opened boutiques across France and Europe and had points of sale in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. However, in 1978, Rizzo gave it all up to return to photography, his first love.

Willy Rizzo’s furniture design channelled the sophistication of Mies Van Der Roen and Le Corbusier, his pieces combining clean, simple lines with bold geometric forms and a delicate handling of materials. His lack of formal training in furniture design placed him outside Italy’s strong, indigenous design traditions, making his style utterly unique at the time.

While Rizzo bought into the modernist principles of functionality and simplified forms, he deliberately avoided mass production, modern materials and industrial design, despite designers such as Gio’ Ponti endorsing the movement. Rizzo remained focused on a doctrine of traditional materials and craftsmanship, a response to the contemporary cultural environment, as opposed to current design trends.

“It was never about recreating classic styles in modern furniture, that wasn’t the point. It was about creating something new for a traditional setting,” W.R.