The son of the seminal polymath Carlo Scarpa—an experimental Italian architect and designer who marched to the beat of his own drum—Tobia Scarpa he built a career with a similarly irreverent, self-deprecating spirit. Along with his equally non-conformist wife and partner Afra Biancincreated a series of era-defining furniture that challenged both the aesthetic and technical limits of materials. Among these enduring icons are about 30 fixtures designed for FLOS—many of the company’s older products.
One such iconic, though long overshadowed, is design Seki-Khan. First launched in 1963 and only produced for three years, the rare linear floor lamp – a quiet revolution in material use, form and calibrated symmetrical light diffusion – has recently been reissued with strategic updates. Adapted to modern standards in both technology and functionality, the design remains true to its original form, while also evolving into a horizontal pendant. Introducing the concept to the US market for the first time this month is an online luxury design retailer Lumens.
The lamp’s elegant yet humble presence stems from Scarpa’s fascination with Japanese cuisine, specifically its namesake: red rice or seki-han. “The name of the lamp comes from a symbol of good luck: in Japan, ‘seki han’ (red rice) is a traditional dish often prepared for special occasions, such as celebrating a birth,” he explains.
At the time, the duo loosely translated the color of the plate onto comparably toned and textured wood, but the association resonates most clearly in the lamp’s extruded interpretation of the rice grain. Masters of sculptural composition, they conceived two slender blade-like forms—originally in Douglas fir—that flank a central neon tube. The reissue replaces it with sustainably sourced ash and FLOS’s proprietary LED technology, which emits a warmer, more nuanced light that better complements the natural material.
“Re-issuing the Seki-Han lamp gave us the opportunity to improve the performance of the light source, leading to an increase in the height of the lamp, which further highlights the delicate proportions of the thin wooden blades that project the light,” adds Scarpa.
Now in his 90s, he continues to refine what has already been resolved—both as a way of tracing the evolution of the duo’s creative output and as a way of testing the enduring relevance of their ideas. In this case, a largely forgotten idea from over 60 years ago finds renewed clarity. To remain an iconic object of vital importance, it cannot exist as a fetishized artifact. must be adjusted.
Working closely with FLOS’s research and development team, Scarpa—now working independently after Afra’s death in 2011—determined that the blades no longer needed to remain stationary. They can now be rotated 360 degrees, allowing users to configure both the aperture and the direction of the light. In this way, the update more accurately articulates the duo’s original intent: to shape and gather light as an ethereal, directional force.
To shop the Seki-Han collection, visit lumens.com.
Photo by Robert Rieger.
