Ugo La Pietra
Globo Tissurato

Globo Tissurato table lamp
Produced by Poggi, Italy
1966 (from a 2006 edition)
Transparent methacrylate and white enameled metal
30.5 x 15.8 x 15.8 inches
77.5  x 40 x 40 centimeters

Price and detailed condition available upon request

While the formal qualities of Ugo La Pietra’s Globo Tissurato (“textured globe”) lamp make it extremely beautiful and something of a sculpture that illuminates, it was a piece of very high technology in 1966. It was the first lamp to use something called a potentiometer, a device that allowed for the regulation of the light’s intensity. The first example of the lamp also experimented with a luxophone, a piece of technology that enabled the light to be switched on and off by sound. The shape—a sphere, half sphere and cylinder in transparent methacrylate textured with dots—can be broken down into its separate parts, encouraging interactivity from its owner.