N°1 | 2026 CITY LIGHTS IN THE 20th CENTURY. Technology and design. Part one

Since its establishment, the Neri Foundation has devoted particular attention to the study of cast-iron products for public lighting and urban furnishings, a field we have often referred to as artistic lighting. Our focus has traditionally been on the supporting elements, the pole and the candelabrum. The new research presented in the next two issues of this magazine marks a radical shift in approach, concentrating instead on the study of lighting fixtures themselves.
The period under investigation extends from approximately 1910 to 2000–2010, when the introduction of LED technology sparked a new revolution in lighting design. As was previously the case with the history of cast-iron public lighting, this more recent history has yet to be written. We are referring specifically to the form and design of lighting fixtures. With the support of hundreds of catalogue images, this study seeks, for the first time, to reconstruct and present their evolution in a comprehensive and systematic way.