Tolomeo Artemide

Artemide was founded by Ernesto Gismondi and Sergio Mazza in 1958. Their aim was to design lights which encompass a fine balance of form, function, innovation and efficiency. This aim was achieved by a company which made and is still making, worldwide, the history of design and of Italian manufacturing quality, earning many accolades for the company and its competence, including the Compasso d'Oro award for lifetime achievement in 1995 and the European Design Prize nel 1997.

In the 60s the whole spectrum of Italian manufacturing quality - known in Italy as Il Made in Italy - became a huge phenomenon which soon gained international status together with the values of Italian industrial culture.

In the very dynamic yet chaotic climate typical of every statu nascenti, Artemide swiftly emerged as a benchmark in Italian manufacturing quality: its lights soon became a yardstick of quality and an international icon of innovation.

The 60s produced such cult lights as Eclisse, designed by Vico Magistretti, which won the Compasso d'Oro in 1969; and Nesso, designed by Giancarlo Mattioli and Gruppo Architetti Città Nuova.

THE 70s: Furnishing design

The new-product development underpinning Artemide's work led the company, in the 70s, to focus on furnishing design; an activity which continued into the late 80s. Many of the products created during this period are still on permanent exhibition in the temples of world design in New York - MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum (Artemide in museums).

As far as lighting was concerned, Artemide continued its research into materials and light sources and into product industrialisation. This period saw the creation of articles which continue to define lighting aesthetics and ambient quality, such as Tizio, designed by Richard Sapper.

THE 80s: Emerging designers

The special relationship with design and designers that has been important throughout Artemide's history received new impetus in the 80s when the firm worked in co-operation with not only successful, established luminaries, such as Ettore Sottsass, but also emerging international names, such as Santiago Calatrava and Mario Botta, who soon achieved worldwide fame.

The success of Artemide's lighting continued unabated: Tolomeo, designed by Michele De Lucchi, was awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 1989.

THE 90s: The Human Light

The 90s dawned with the birth of Artemide COLLEZIONI, a new range which reintroduced and reinterpreted traditional materials using an innovative design which nonetheless captured the expressive poetry of lighting of yesteryear.

Over the decade, Artemide carefully pondered its mission, eventually electing The Human Light as the philosophy to guide its future development.

Artemide interprets subjective human needs, offering an immediate, concrete solution in the form of the Metamorfosi project created in 1996. Using new technology, METAMORFOSI allows the user to choose and create different lighting colours to suit the mood and the use of a particular room at any given time.

Artemide continued to explore the field of light sources throughout the 90s, using innovative technologies such as LEDs.

The 00s:

The decade opened with an exploration of lighting-performance enhancement to make it multifunctional and multisensory. Artemide drew up the A.L.S.O. project aimed at increasing people's wellbeing by combining lighting with other benefits, such as air filtration or sound, which have a positive effect on ambient quality.

Artemide also developed the "range" concept, creating families of products based on long-popular lighting. Thus, Tolomeo, designed by Michele De Lucchi, and Talo by Neil Poulton, were extended to include a full range of models suited to diverse needs.