Stilnovo: Bentornata Saliscendi 2022, 9 12

You know, great ideas never die.
In 2019, Linea Light Group acquired
the Stilnovo brand, with the intention of
restoring its former glory through a mix
of new offerings, capable of following the
same revolutionary path that made the
Milanese company so great for decades.
This was to be flanked by a re-engineering
of the more iconic models aimed at
updating them for everyday use, whilst
remaining faithful to the original aesthetics
of the product, with the fundamental
collaboration of historical designers, their
heirs or foundations.
Starting from this concept and working
side-by-side with the heirs of Achille and
Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, a new idea was
born: to take up the Saliscendi and make it
down for contemporary living!
And so ... back to the drawing board.
The elaborate process of redesigning the
lamp began, with the aim of rendering it
appealing to the market of today.
In the Stilnovo studio, the technicians
and heirs of Achille and Pier Giacomo
Castiglioni essentially faced two
not-insignificant problems.
The re-release of the Saliscendi had to
take into consideration the technological
evolution to have taken place throughout
the years, with old light sources having
increasingly given way to more effective
and energy-saving LEDs. Furthermore,
the size of the light fixture in the original
design made the Saliscendi impressive
and effective but difficult to fit into
contemporary spaces. Even if such
characteristics limited its use, the light’s
genius, its charm and the thrill it was able
to arouse left no room for doubt: this was
the right path to take so we had to persist,
reviewing all the dimensions of the project.
All the components of the lamp were
therefore halved in size compared to the
original, including the reflective disc that
went from 120 cm to 60 cm. In this way,
the suspension light finally found its place
in all environments of contemporary living,
without impacting upon the charm and
functionality of its older “sister”.
Great ideas never die
“Get a good idea and stay with it.
Dog it, and work at it until it’s done right.”
– Walt Disney