Mario Bellini Area 50 floor lamp – 1976 catalogue
Area 50 Curva table lamp – 1976 catalogue
Area 50 wall lamp or flush mount – 1976 catalogue
Links (external links open in a new window)
The Area 50 lamp on the Mario Bellini website
iF Design Awards – Mario Bellini – Archived
Mario Bellini, designer – MoMA exhibition
Mario Bellini Area 50 Floor Lamp 160/210
Materials: Square grey painted cast iron base. White lacquered metal rod. Body in poly-carbonate. Synthetic textile fabric lampshade. Bakelite E27 socket.
Max Height: 210 cm / 82.67”
Height: 160 cm / 62.99”
Lampshade: 50 x 50 cm / 19.68 x 19.68”
Electricity: 1 bulb E27, 1 x 100 watt maximum, 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, but a silver cupped/bowl lamp is recommended.
Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: Mario Bellini in 1974.
Manufacturer: Artemide, Pregnana Milanese, Milan, Italy.
Other versions: The Mario Bellini Area 50 floor lamp exists in two versions. A desk lamp and several table lamps, flush mount or wall lamp and pendant lamp were made, as you can see. The pendant lamp in two versions was at least produced until the 1990s. It appears in the 1992 catalogue. You can find it over here.
This floor lamp is a first edition, labelled: patent pending.
Mario Bellini
Mario Bellini, born February 1, 1935 in Milan, is an Italian industrial designer, furniture designer, light designer and architect. He graduated from the Politecnico di Milano University in 1959.
Mario Bellini began working as an architect in the early 60’s. He was chief design consultant for Olivetti from 1963 to 1991. For the company he designed the Programma 101 in 1965, the first true personal computer in history.
He designed furniture for Cassina and B&B Italia. Among others Bellini designed TV sets for Brionvega. High fidelity systems, headphones and organs for Yamaha. For several years he worked as a design consultant for Renault.
Bellini also designed for Flou, Heller, Kartell, Meritalia, Rosenthal, Tecno, Venini, Vitra and many others.
In 1987, as a continuation of the studio he opened at the beginning of his career, he establishes the Mario Bellini Associati srl,
that becomes Mario Bellini architects, with base in Milan.
He is present in the design collection of major museums and 25 of his works are in the permanent design collection of the New York Museum of Modern Art MoMA. In 1987, the museum organised the exhibition: Mario Bellini: designer. It was the first great retrospective on a living artist.
On the occasion of the Milan Furniture Fair 2019, Bellini will present for FLOS a new collection of lamps derived from its historical Chiara lamp, you can find it over here in the FLOS catalogue on Vintageinfo.
Artemide
The Artemide Group is based in Pregnana Milanese, Italy. The company is best known for the Tizio desk lamp designed by Richard Sapper in 1972. The company is also famous for the Tolomeo desk lamp, designed by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina in 1986. Artemide produced many other beautiful lights en furniture during all those the years.
Designers who have collaborated with Artemide include Mario Botta, Sir Norman Foster, Ettore Sottsass, Enzo Mari, Neil Poulton, Karim Rashid, Giò Ponti and many others.
Area 50 table lamp – 1976 catalogue
Lamps in the movies
Two Mario Bellini Area 50 table lamps were used as a prop in the 1981 neo-noir drama action thriller film Sharky’s Machine. Directed by and starring Burt Reynolds.
Many thanks to Lluís from Eclectique Vintage for the photos and the enthusiasm.