Gae Aulenti Furniture
The Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti will forever be best remembered for her work with museums, in particular her 1980–86 renovation of a Beaux Arts Paris train station to create the galleries of the Musée d’Orsay. Aulenti — whose first name, short for Gaetana, is pronounced “guy” — should also be recalled for her tough intellectual spirit and for working steadily when few women found successful architectural careers in postwar Italy.
After she graduated from the Milan Polytechic in 1954, Aulenti opened an architectural office. She also joined the staff of the progressive architectural magazine Casabella, whose editorial line was that the establishment, orthodox modernism of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, had outlived it usefulness. When their movement for fresh approaches to architecture and design received a sympathetic hearing, Aulenti found patrons — most prominently Gianni Agnelli, of Fiat, who later employed her to renovate the Palazzo Grassi in Venice for use as an arts exhibition space.
Commissions for showrooms and other corporate spaces brought Aulenti to furniture design. She felt that furniture should never dominate a room. Her chairs and sofas — low-slung, with rounded enameled metal frames and ample seats — and tables, particularly her 1972 marble Jumbo coffee table for Knoll, project solidity and sturdiness. In lighting design, however, Aulenti is bravura.
Each work has a marvelous sculptural presence. Pieces such as her Pipistrello table lamp and Quadrifoglio pendant are a perfect marriage of organically shaped glass and high-tech fixtures. Others have a futuristic elegance — and some even have a touch of personality. Aulenti’s Pileino and La Ruspa table lamps each look almost like little robots. Her lighting pieces are an artful grace note in the career of a woman who believed in strength.
Find vintage Gae Aulenti armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum, Chrome, Sheet Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum, Chrome, Iron
2010s Italian Gae Aulenti Furniture
Steel
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Enamel
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Leather, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Other Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Gae Aulenti Furniture
Glass
20th Century European Gae Aulenti Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal, Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Chrome, Gold, Metal
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Blown Glass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Leather, Wood
1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Blown Glass
20th Century Italian Gae Aulenti Furniture
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Marble
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
1960s Italian Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Brass, Steel
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Space Age Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Steel, Chrome, Nickel
Late 20th Century Italian Space Age Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Steel
1960s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1960s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Plastic
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Gae Aulenti Furniture
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Steel
1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Crystal, Metal
1960s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Walnut
1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture
Glass
1960s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1960s Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Metal
1980s American Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture
Marble