Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni’s Snoopy Lamp Turns 50

“I see around me a professional disease of taking everything too seriously,” Achille Castiglioni once said. Renowned for folding wit into everyday objects, the late Italian designer, together with his brother, Pier Giacomo, employed his playful intelligence particularly well in a perky, snout-shaped lamp known as Snoopy. Produced by Flos in 1967, the fixture’s oblong reflector, bowling ball grip–like cooling holes, and off-kilter marble base—equipped with a then-radical electronic dimmer—became iconic, a status it firmly claims to this day. To mark the lamp’s 50th anniversary, Flos has created a limited run of 1,700 Snoopys, based on its original design, recasting the shiny enamel top in sophisticated matte black. This month, 80 of them make their U.S. debut with a touch sensor in place of the original dimmer switch. While its muted upper evokes a more self-controlled spirit, Snoopy’s message remains intact: everything benefits from a little fun.