Model 262 wins Monocle Design Award 2025 for Best Modernisation
Astep is honoured to receive Monocle’s Best Modernisation award for Model 262 at the 2025 Monocle Design Awards. First conceived by Gino Sarfatti in 1971, this fixture has been thoughtfully re-edited to align with 21st-century performance and Astep’s B Corp standards – proving that a century of design can evolve without losing its essence.
Model 262 was born from Sarfatti’s vision to give the light bulb its own stage. A spun-aluminium disc cradles the light source, its raw surface preserving the industrial process while reflecting and diffusing illumination with striking clarity. Whether mounted alone or in a graphic pattern, the lamp remains both sculptural and functional.
In updating the design, Astep retained the original’s pared-back aesthetics and engineering ingenuity, enhancing energy efficiency and material transparency. “My grandfather was a purist,” reflects Alessandro Sarfatti, “and modernising his mid-century designs means honouring that purity, while meeting today’s exacting standards.”
Winning Monocle’s Best Modernisation award reaffirms Model 262’s status as a design icon – where heritage and innovation converge in a luminous statement that still feels fully of the moment.
