Martinelli Luce reintroduces this iconic design object, during Design Week
Some lamps do more than simply illuminate the space around them: they seem to observe the world. Pallino is one of them.
This compact table lamp was originally created in the early 1970s, a time when design expressed itself through saturated colours, innovative materials, and geometries that challenged the rigor of the past; when the Italian names that would go on to dictate formal language and write the history of industrial design in Italy and beyond were beginning to emerge. Amid that creative ferment, Pallino stood out for its simplicity and formal austerity. True to his philosophy as a designer working beyond the fashions of the moment, Elio Martinelli drew clean lines to shape two simple, compact volumes, a small architecture for the table conceived as a play of perfect contrasts: a slender, curved base supporting a spherical reflector, a small adjustable globe that directs light like a curious, captivating gaze, peering out playfully from a desk or bedside table.
Its name encapsulates and conveys this playful spirit: a diminutive, an affectionate nickname for an object that becomes a roommate and invites discovery. Pallino evokes the slow pleasure of meditation and reflection, enveloped in a warm, embracing light and timeless forms that Martinelli Luce reintroduces unchanged, still relevant today.
“Reintroducing Pallino means bringing back into today’s homes a touch of the formal lightness and chromatic boldness that made Italian design great. It means choosing an object with a story to tell, one that still looks ahead together with those who own it.” Emiliana Martinelli, President of Martinelli Luce.
Table lamp with injection-molded ABS base and stamped aluminum sphere, liquid-painted finish. Adjustable reflector with E14 bulb. Dimensions: height 240 mm; base Ø 80 mm; sphere Ø 125 mm. Available in orange, white, blue, yellow, and red.
