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It all started in a small laboratory in the historical centre of the Italian town of Piacenza during the late 1980s. Davide Groppi was inventing and producing his first lamps and decided simply to use his own name for the name of the company. Creative independence and passionate, unconventional management have allowed him, over time, to develop his brand of original and unique product designs, currently distributed around the world. Simplicity, weightlessness, emotion, creative invention and amazement are the fundamental ingredients of each lamp or lighting design project designed by Groppi. His creations come about through the need to give life to something that is necessary or significant. The things that inspire these ideas are works of art, ready-made objects, magic, the desire to make things with his hands or simply the urge to play and have fun with light. Light, for Groppi, is a wonderful way to seduce and excite. He has always worked with a faithful group of collaborators, who share his vision and help him develop ideas and bring them to fruition.
Over the course of many years, Groppi has developed products, projects and shows in collaboration with companies specialising in design. There have also been many international projects the world over, including the illumination of houses, stores, museums, restaurants and hospitality projects. Some of the most famous chefs have chosen lighting solutions by Groppi for their venues, including Albert Adrià, Massimo Bottura, Massimiliano Alajmo, Moreno Cedroni, Carlo Cracco, Gennaro Esposito, Giancarlo Perbellini, Ciccio Sultano and others.
Groppi has been recognised for excellence by the press and received prestigious awards, including the Edida Award, in 2011, for the Sampei lamp; the Design Plus Award, in 2014, for the Neuro lamp; the two awards at the 23rd edition of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Awards for the Nulla lamp and for the Sampei lamp; the 24th edition of the ADI Compasso D’Oro Mention of Honour Award for TeTaTeT rechargeable battery lamp. The ADI Compasso d’Oro Award is considered the oldest and most prestigious recognition for design in the world. As part of the 'Quirinale Contemporaneo' project, inaugurated in 2019, Sampei and Origine floor lamps light up the Quirinal Palace, in particular, the 'Studio alla Vetrata' and the 'Prima Sala di Rappresentanza' respectively. Origine also enriches the interiors of the Italian Embassy to the Holy See for the initiative 'Contemporanei a Palazzo Borromeo'.
The company has been a part of the Italian Design Brands s.p.a. group since 2018, with the aim of strengthening its already important presence in international markets. In 2019, Groppi became a member of the Altagamma Foundation, the creative and cultural ecosystem that is the most important accelerator of Made in Italy products.
Together with other lighting solutions, Anima, Magia, Post Prandium, Vis à Vis will be among the protagonists of the new Davide Groppi Milano Manzoni 38 space, a place in which to discover Davide Groppi light through his products: luminous elements, creations made of ingenuity and imagination, passion and organization, heart and mind.
Designed by Groppi and Giorgio Rava, Anima is more like an emotion of indirect light with an aesthetic poised between Scandinavian and Japanese design, two distant cultures that are very close. Anima is the invention of super subtle light, to be used on the floor or on low furniture, to keep close to yourself or to be used to create depth. It is a lamp to be enjoyed for its essentiality and scenic power. With its simplicity, it recalls the 'subtle sculptures' of Fausto Melotti, which invade the space with a light and musical rhythm. “Fausto Melotti’s works, especially his slender sculptures, have always inspired me. I consider lightness added value. It’s the urge to make objects with very few things. A stem and a base. I hardly ever manage to justify frills or things that have no purpose other than playing around and having fun,” the lighting designer shares.
Designed by Michele Groppi light and transparency are the true stars of this project. Magia is a suspension lighting system of great effect. Modular and adaptable according to the different heights of the rooms, it can generate direct and indirect light with the 360° adjustability of the module. Through the effect of the convex lens of the module, the light emission is hidden. Rigorous, elegant and scenographic, Magia represents an ideal solution for different types of environments.
Designed by Groppi. A project from many years ago is now designed in a new wireless version. The love for the ready-made sometimes resurfaces, to satisfy the profound desire for designing as little as possible, taking what exists already. Post Prandium is a rechargeable table lamp with a steel base and matt black finish, the stem and head in chrome-finished steel. Charging can be done with a USB C port and the lamp has a battery life of nine hours.
Designed by Michele Groppi 10 years after the debut of their first battery-operated lamp, the company sought to introduce a novel concept of wireless lighting, centred around transparency, truth, and beauty. Thus, a rechargeable table lamp with direct light emerged, featuring a transparent stem with a magnetic head and a transparent disc with a refractive effect. Charging can be done with a USB C port and the lamp has a battery life of nine hours.
Stay tuned with STIR's coverage of Milan Design Week 2024 which showcases the best of exhibitions, studios, designers, installations, brands and events to look out for. Explore EuroCucina and all the design districts—Fuorisalone, 5vie Design Week, Isola Design Week, Brera Design District and Porta Venezia Design District.
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