René Staud

“When the Tolomeo appeared in 1987, ...

... , I was busy with the concept of interior photography – and with its unique design, this lamp was a welcome addition to my props store. Its charm lies in the fact that you can see its functionality and that it is self-explanatory. However, it is not only very successful in terms of form; it also has a very lovely lighting effect, which is why it has a special part to play in our Leonberg studio today. I am probably the only person to have done it – but I had the aluminium feet taken off a total of 10 lamps so that I could insert the Tolomeos into the tables in our alcove seating islands. Because I had the table tops drilled through, the Vitra representative was initially sceptical, but the result is perfect: our Tolomeos are perfectly integrated and very flexible, and you can also shine the light directly at an object if you want.
I love good design and I love to be able to classify products clearly and place them in a logical context. As an automotive photographer, I would never drive a car that I don't know – I would only consider makes such as Porsche or AMG. That's why it's also obvious that the Tolomeo has permanent place in our studio, because as a product, it has become an absolute classic – just like a Porsche 911.”