Remember the Bic Biro? It’s now a larger-than-life lamp

Seletti honours the iconic Bic pen on its 75th anniversary with a gigantic, luminous reproduction of its design

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Bic Pen transformed into a lamp
Seletti’s ‘Bic Lamp’ in honour of the humble pen
(Image credit: Courtesy Seletti)

Bic Cristal, the world’s best-selling ballpoint pen, turns 75 this year, and to celebrate the anniversary of such an icon, Seletti has recreated its legendary form into a larger-than-life lamp.

The Bic Biro: a timeless design icon

Seletti lamp shaped like a Bic pen

(Image credit: Courtesy Seletti)

Perhaps best known as the Bic Biro, the pen has been ubiquitous since its launch, with a clear, hexagonal plastic case and bold cap. Its manufacturer, Société Bic, revealed in 2006 that it had sold more than one hundred billion pens in the object's history, and the pen is also part of the permanent collection of MoMA.

Its story began in 1930, when Hungarian-Argentine inventor László Bíró conceived the ballpoint mechanism after seeing some children playing with marbles – the lucid spheres leaving a trail that inspired the ball and ink combo.

The ingenious creation caught the eye of Marcel Bich in 1944, and after acquiring the rights to the design, the French entrepreneur invested in innovative Swiss technology to create a stainless steel one-millimetre sphere to replicate Bíró's original idea in a seamless, effortlessly flowing writing instrument.

From writing instrument to lighting tool

Seletti lamp shaped like a Bic pen

(Image credit: Courtesy Seletti)

'At Seletti, we have always played with the concept of memory-driven design, placing people’s personal memories at the centre of the objects we create,' says Seletti art director Stefano Seletti. 'With “Bic Lamp”, we transform a universally and instantly recognizable shape that lives in everyone’s memory, into something completely new.'

The new ‘Bic Lamp’ replicates the pen at a 12:1 scale, and features floor, pendant and wall versions that honour the writing tool's most recognisable shades of black, red and blue.

Seletti lamp shaped like a Bic pen

(Image credit: Courtesy Seletti)

The new collection is a great example of Seletti's pop spirit – the Italian brand has always been successful at playing with the domestic vernacular while mixing it with new energy and ideas.

'This project ties into our way of approaching lighting design, with innovative and unconventional concepts. The “Bic Lamp” is the perfect example of how an icon can be reborn to illuminate our homes and our memories.'

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Rosa Bertoli

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.