Mario Paroli creates larger-than-life Biro lamp to mark Bic pen's 75th anniversary
Designer Mario Paroli and Italian brand Seletti have unveiled an outsized, light-up version of the iconic Bic Cristal ball-point pen for French company Bic, at Maison&Objet.
Presented during the January 2026 edition of the Paris-based furniture fair, Bic Lamp is 12 times size of the standard pen. It was created to mark the end of the brand's celebrations for Bic Cristal's 75th anniversary, which was in 2025.
Its scaled-up iteration was created by Italian designer Paroli, who conserved the original proportions of the pen, which was originally designed in 1950 by Italian-French manufacturer and Bic co-founder Marcel Bich.
Its design has remained relatively unchanged since its inception and it has been included in the permanent collections of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and Paris's Centre Pompidou.
While the transparent, hexagonal barrel contains ink in the day-to-day version of the pen, in Bic Lamp it contains an LED light fixture that casts a warm glow.
Its identity is further maintained by the caps and ends, available in classic black, blue or red with a power cord attached in a matching colour. The Bic logo is emblazoned towards the top end of the shaft.
The playful collection comprises wall, floor and pendant iterations, which are all 178 centimetres long.
Like the original pens, Bic Lamp is made from plastic – specifically polycarbonate and high density polyethylene.
"Turning this everyday object into a larger-than-life lamp shows the impact this simple ballpoint pen, created in 1950, has had on collective imagination," said Bic's general manager for stationary David Cabero.
"There are few objects that can boast a presence in classrooms and boardrooms alike – now to be also featured in homes across the world through Seletti's Bic Lamp!".
Bic Lamp will be commercially available between the end of March and the beginning of April 2026.
Other novelty lighting covered on Dezeen include a three-metre-tall lava lamp and a light in the shape of a fish-shaped soy sauce dropper.
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