Before there was FLOS, Cocoon International produced a spray-on coating polymer to protect packages for the US Army but wanted to use the material for a creative purpose. Designers Tobia Scarpa & the Castiglioni brothers were called upon to experiment, and dreamed up a number of (now iconic) lamps, giving a sense of magic to the light it emanated, which shined warmly through the cloud-like material.
The designs invented (Fantasma, Viscontea, Taraxacum, and Gatto) during the experimentation of the cocoon material ultimately led to the founding of FLOS in 1962. Today, this distinguished genealogy of lighting fixtures is extended with the introduction of Overlap, a pendent light that utilizes exactly the same material and spray-on technique that was used in the 60s.
Overlap plays with the idea of the space that exists between two perpendicular planes, leaving the imagination to complete the geometry. Anastassiades uses the cocoon wrapping to create visual interest so that the interlocking rings appear as if they are trying to push through the membrane.
Each lamp consists of two layers of cocoon, the first thicker, the second much thinner, applied through a spray gun while the frame twirls on a spinning base. A final transparent paint is then applied to add a sheen. The resulting skin is very similar to a real cocoon made by a silkworm, hence the naming of the technique.
This thoroughly modern spin on a classic technique takes the suggestion of hard angles and bathes them in soft light to illuminate any space in a way that is both subtle and intriguing.
