Koch & Lowy

Koch & Lowy was an American lighting manufacturer founded in 1946 by Ernest Lowy, becoming one of the most influential names in mid-century modernist lighting throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The company built its reputation on sleek, functional designs rendered in polished chrome and brass, creating fixtures that combined sculptural appeal with genuine practicality – adjustable pharmacy-style reading lamps, elegant swing-arm floor lights, and architectural table lamps with marble bases.

Working with notable designers including George Nelson, Neal Small, Robert Sonneman, and Piotr Sierakowski (who headed Koch & Lowy’s design department), the company produced lighting that elevated everyday function into design statements. Their pharmacy “tent” floor lamps became particularly iconic, along with Neal Small’s architectural Skyscraper floor lamp and various multi-armed brass chandeliers that defined the era’s sophisticated modernist aesthetic.

Koch & Lowy fixtures were characterised by their quality construction, innovative articulating joints (the company acquired OMI lighting in the 1960s, incorporating their precise mechanical joints), and attention to how light actually works in real spaces. These weren’t just decorative pieces – they were designed to provide proper task lighting while looking good doing it. The weighted bases, adjustable arms, and directional shades all served genuine functional purposes.

Ernest Lowy’s son Thomas took over the business and eventually sold the company in the 1990s, but Koch & Lowy’s impact on American modernist lighting design remains significant. Their fixtures from the 1960s and 1970s are now highly sought after for their unmistakable mid-century chrome-and-brass aesthetic.