Tizio lamp

PurplePrice Mag · October 29, 2026 · 2 min read

The Tizio is a slim black desk lamp made of arms, counterweights and a small luminous head. It was designed by the German designer Richard Sapper for Artemide, which put it into production in 1972. It is in the collections of MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

A lamp for people who draw

In 1970 Ernesto Gismondi, an aeronautical engineer and the founder of Artemide, asked his friend Sapper for a desk lamp. Sapper started from his own needs: he wanted a drafting lamp “with a wide range of movement that, despite this, took up little space”, and that would light the sheet without forcing him to work with his head close to the reflector. The name was chosen by Gismondi: Tizio, as in “Tizio, Caio e Sempronio”, the Italian equivalent of “Tom, Dick and Harry”, because the lamp was meant to win over anyone.

Counterweights and no wires

The Tizio has two pairs of parallel arms that move into a great many positions; counterweights at the ends keep it balanced, so a finger is enough to move it. It uses a halogen bulb, until then used mainly in cars, at 12 volts. The current runs directly through the metal arms, which is safe at such a low voltage: that is why there are no visible wires. The rotating cylindrical base holds the transformer, with a two-level switch.

Engineering and simplicity

Behind the essential shape there are more than a hundred components. The joints have no screws but are press-fitted: if the lamp falls, the parts come apart instead of breaking and can be snapped back into place. Born as a work tool, the Tizio became a much-loved piece of furniture, found in countless offices, homes and films, and a symbol of the technical taste that would lead to High-tech.