Martinelli Luce

Elio Martinelli class (1922-2004) was neither an architect nor an engineer, but had studied scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. He made his company grow, which boasts 70 years of activity where today his daughter is at the head, to whom he has transmitted all his passion, together with his son Marco.

A passion that has made Martinelli one of the most influential figures in Italian design.

Who is Elio Martinelli? Interior designer who in 1950 took over his father’s business and began building lighting fixtures to be placed in the interiors he designs. A classic story of Italian entrepreneurial ingenuity. A creative flow of iconic long-selling products, with which it has been able to distinguish itself by becoming synonymous with the history of Italian design, the “genius of the lamp”, as it has been nicknamed.

A flash of light as the main road “the name of the father” that drags and stimulates the minds of other creatives in a concrete verticalizing thought. An open mind that has made her love a centrifugal force, opening up to collaboration with the most important designers at an international level. Visionary creator of lamps that have become archetypes for many designs, which will follow in his footsteps like a cobra – just to quote one of his 1968 creations – bewitched by an irresistible melody.

“My idea was to have other designers interpret the Cobra character as well”

Elio Martinelli

His was a scenographic and sometimes theatrical vision, – as confirmed by his fresh and courageous hand – an impetus that animates the sheets full of ideas, geometries, moving parts, ironic suggestions. Typical of a mind influenced by the magical environment of the scenography. Beams of lights on colored rubber bands that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, as in the “Elastica” lamp designed by the Habits studio for Martinelli Luce. Typical of a mind influenced by the magical environment of the scenography. Beams of lights on colored rubber bands that stretch from the floor to the ceiling, as in the “Elastica” lamp designed by the Habits studio for Martinelli Luce.

Or “Cyborg” that lands in the rooms and lets itself be caressed to come alive with a soft light that materializes the vision of its creator Karim Rashid, and seems to rise from the ground. Chandeliers like immense pleated, light skirts of dancers and acrobats who in their luminous rings suspended in the dark let themselves be traversed by a magical thought. Biconical structures that create real theatrical scenes in the rooms which make the shadow their own vibrating force. Darkness becomes a magical force that cancels gravity and the signs of light remain to testify a tangible lightness.

An aesthetic language that is also inspired by nature, animals and the purity of geometric shapes, accompanied by a strong vocation for technological innovation that makes dreams come true. A technique capable of responding to the demands of different markets. Inclusion, dreams, sharing of ideas, passion, tradition, technique, technology, sensitivity to the present without losing sight of the origins. These are all factors that have allowed the brand to become a point of reference in its sector. Factors also married by the brilliant minds of designers magnetized by Martinelli, some already mentioned to which are added: Sergio Asti, Richard Neutra, Studio Orlandini, Marc Sadler, Luc Ramael, Studio Lucchi & Biserni, Angelo Micheli, Karim Rashid, Donia Maaoui, Vittorio Venice, Luisa Bocchietto and like Gae Aulenti who designed the famous Pipistrello lamp exhibited in the most important museums.

All oriented in the mission of leaving a distinctive, essential and creative mark. A mission widely achieved because it is still confirmed as one of the brands that have made Italian style a lovemark all over the world. A style that continues to amaze us for the constant vocation that it produces, from its crucible, “jewels” of lines of light that draw a captivating character in the rooms, and in our case, of the Spazio Giustiniani showroom, which leads to a new vision. A perspective that has the courage to look beyond the horizon line of the geometric but remaining faithful to the needs of the current era.

Vision that goes beyond the conventional point of view and draws us into this reality without borders, contaminated by suggestions of distant lands, as we see in one of the latest creations presented at GDW 2021: Lady Galala “Mutable like the territory of Mount Galala from which she took inspiration”.

A brand that has written the history of design thanks to its unique and indisputable stylistic trait. With a style that not only makes people happy and passionate, but also leads them to visit museums all over the world. Products already mentioned such as Cobra, Ruspa and Pipistrello by Gae Aulenti have been and still are present in museums of world interest including: the MoMA in New York and the Milan Triennale.

Elio Martinelli was able to create a “new world” where you can discover an authentic space that feeds on passion and eroticism in an intelligent synthesis.

The new temporary store dedicated to the Martinelli Luce collection can be found in Piazza dei Giustiniani at our Spazio Giustiniani showroom.