The design of Céramique is reminiscent of what we would consider a traditional table lamp, but then it also has an entirely different character, which is partly a result of it being made in this material. Can you tell me how you arrived at this at this shape?

RB: It was a very long process, I think I designed 50 lamps before I arrived at this one (laughs). The starting point is both technical and poetic. I wanted the final design to express a poetic language, but what I wanted to achieve simplicity, a lamp made of just one piece of ceramic. I went through several solutions, some that were intelligent technically or intelligent in terms of geometry but maybe not intelligent in terms of light. The starting point for the final design was the first shape I felt happy with: a vertical piece of ceramic that looked like a beautiful vase. And just looking at it, using it in my apartment, understanding what light it would produce, I thought it could be interesting for the light to have different directions. So as the design progressed, I realised that it would probably be more powerful as a collection. To find shapes and dimensions that could work in three different orientations was a long process, it was extremely complex, and Flos solved several technical aspects of the design. In a design culture of cutting metal and extruding plastic, ceramic is not something you can capture, it’s like a wild animal, it needs a lot of calm and a lot of time. Céramique is big and heavy, not easy to put in the kiln - the first try was a disaster. I thought, why did I design something so complex? But we solved it, and to me this is Italy, this marvellous quality of research and development of companies like Flos.

Interview by Rosa Bertoli