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Gae Aulenti Furniture

Italian, 1927-2012

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.

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Item Ships From: Los Angeles
Creator: Gae Aulenti
Lounge Sofa by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, 1976
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Three seater sofa designed by Gae Aulenti in 1974. This sofa is part of the lounge seating line for the Aulenti Collection, manufactured by Knoll International. Aulenti first collab...
Category

1970s European Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Aulenti Collection Lounge Chair for Knoll International, 1976
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This arm chair was designed by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International in 1974 as part of the Aulenti Collection with matching sofas and coffee tables. This chair is made of a maroon ena...
Category

1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Gae Aulenti Carrara Marble Jumbo Table for Knoll International, 1970
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA

Gae Aulenti Jumbo coffee table for Knoll. Architect and designer Gae Aulenti's Jumbo coffee table is her most iconic creation made from honed white Car...

Category

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

'Patroclo' Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide
By Artemide, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Patroclo table lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide. Originally designed in 1975. Smoke colored blown glass and steel mesh. Toggle switch on cord. Maintains original Artemide label. Hold...
Category

1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Gae Aulenti Calacatta Marble Jumbo Table for Knoll International, circa 1970
By Knoll, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Jumbo coffee table designed by Gae Aulenti. In excellent vintage condition. Cylindrical marble legs with dynamic veining. Manufactured by Knoll International, circa 1970.
Category

1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Marble

'Pileo' Floor Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide
By Artemide, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
'Pileo' Floor Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide. Designed and manufactured in Italy, in 1972. Two-toned all-plastic floor lamp with an adjustable shade. The lamp consists of a single ...
Category

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Plastic

Pair of Gae Aulenti Locus Solus Ottomans
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pair of bright yellow Locus Solus metal ottomans by Gae Aulenti. Ottomans are in good condition with heavy wear on finish and metal.
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

"4854" Chair by Gae Aulenti for Kartell, 1968
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Designed by Gae Aulenti for Kartell in the 1968, the 4854 chair is made of white ABS plastic and lacquered white and features Aulenti's charact...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Plastic

Jumbo Table by Gae Aulenti
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Carrara marble "Jumbo" table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International. Made in Italy circa 1960s.
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Large Pipistrello Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Martinelli Luce
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Large Pipistrello table lamp by Gae Aulenti for Martinelli Luce. Originally designed in 1965, this current production comes with a white opal methacr...
Category

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Aluminum, Stainless Steel

Two Pileino Table Lamps by Gae Aulenti for Artemide
By Artemide, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Two Pileino table lamps by Gae Aulenti for Artemide. Designed and manufactured in Italy, 1972. Lacquered metal. Original EU cord. We recommend one E14 candelabra 100w maximum bulb pe...
Category

1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Large Pipistrello Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Martinelli Luce
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Large Pipistrello table lamp by Gae Aulenti for Martinelli Luce. Originally designed in 1965, this current production comes with a white opal methacr...
Category

2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Aluminum

Related Items
Italian Modernist "Pileino" Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide
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Petite "Pileino" table lamp designed by Italian architect and designer, Gae Aulenti for Artemide in 1972 for an Italian design exhibition at MoMa, New York. Stylish and practical wit...
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20th Century Gae Aulenti Artemide Table Lamp Mod. Mezzo Oracolo, 1960s
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Tavolino da caffè Gae Aulenti Jumbo per Knoll in marmo Nero Marquina
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Jumbo firmato da Gae Aulenti per Knoll è il tavolino completamente in marmo con coppia di gambe ad ogni angolo. I marmi sono della migliore qualità, selezionati per eliminare i difet...
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Cini Boeri Two-Seat Sofa for Knoll International, 1970s
By Cini Boeri, Knoll
Located in Den Haag, NL
Two-seat sofa designed by Cini Boeri for Knoll International. Upholstered in smooth black Leather. Model ''Brigadier'' Love the design, low and wide. So 1970s. The wooden base has re...
Category

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Materials

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Gad Aulenti Table Lamp for Artemide
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The "Pileino" is a small, versatile table lamp that allows the user to change both light intensity and direction by positioning the shade. Designed by Gae Aulenti for Artemide in 197...
Category

Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

Brayton International Gray Leather Lounge Chairs, 1980
By Brayton International
Located in Chicago, IL
Brayton International 4 gray leather lounge chairs, 1980. Original leather in great condition.
Category

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Materials

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Gae Aulenti, Set of 6 "Orsay" Chairs for Knoll International, 1970s
By Gae Aulenti, Knoll
Located in Paris, FR
Nice set of 6 "Orsay" chairs designed by Gae Aulenti produced by Knoll International in Italy. Circa 1970s. New upholstery. Dark brown lacquered metal feet. Good vintage condition o...
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Pristine Florence Knoll Sofa for Knoll International
By Florence Knoll, Knoll
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pristine Florence Knoll sofa for Knoll International. Upholstered in gorgeous Sina Pearson fabric. Florence Knoll was a pioneering designer and entrepreneur who created the modern look and feel of America’s postwar corporate office with sleek furniture, artistic textiles and an uncluttered, free-flowing workplace environment. To connoisseurs of Modernism, the mid-20th century designs of Florence Knoll, were — and still are — the essence of the genre’s clean, functional forms. Transcending design fads, they are still influential, still contemporary, still common in offices, homes and public spaces, still found in dealers’ showrooms and represented in museum collections. Ms. Knoll learned her art at the side of Modernist masters. She was a protégé of the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and teacher and the father of the architect Eero Saarinen. And she worked with the renowned Bauhaus architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. Throughout her career, influenced by the German Bauhaus school of design, she promoted the Modernist merger of architecture, art and utility in her furnishings and interiors, especially — although not exclusively — for offices. In the 1940s, she married and became a business partner of the German-born furniture maker Hans Knoll, and over 20 years she was instrumental in building Knoll Associates into the largest and most prestigious high-end design firm of its kind, with 35 showrooms in the United States and around the world. While her husband handled business affairs, Ms. Knoll was the design force of Knoll Associates. It grew to become the leading innovator of modern interiors and furnishings in the 1950s and ’60s, transforming the CBS, Seagram and Look magazine headquarters in Manhattan, the H. J. Heinz headquarters in Pittsburgh and properties across the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, including American embassies. Her “total design” favored open work spaces over private offices, and furniture grouped for informal discussions. It integrated lighting, vibrant colors, acoustical fabrics, chairs molded like tulip petals, sofas and desks with chrome legs...
Category

Early 2000s American Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Jens Risom Lounge Chair for Knoll International
By Jens Risom
Located in Munich, DE
Jens Risom lounge chair for Knoll International. Webbing redone. model no. 652. LOCATED IN HAMBURG
Category

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Jens Risom Lounge Chair for Knoll International
Jens Risom Lounge Chair for Knoll International
H 26.38 in W 24.41 in D 28.75 in
Mid Century Modern " Quadrifoglio " Floor Lamp, Gae Aulenti for Guzzini, Italy
By Guzzini, Gae Aulenti
Located in Ceglie Messapica, IT
Space age iconic and rare " Quadrifoglio " floor lamp. 1970 's italian design floor lamp designed by Gae Aulenti for Harvey Guzzini in the early 1970 's. Polished chrome circular b...
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1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Gae Aulenti Mid-Century Modern Red Table for Knoll International
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Brussels, BE
Gae Aulenti Mid-Century Modern Red Table for Knoll International
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Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Sofa Model 67A by Florence Knoll for Knoll International, USA, 1950s
By Florence Knoll
Located in Berlin, DE
Sofa Model 67A by Florence Knoll for Knoll International the sofa is new upholstered in Knoll textile fabric.
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1950s American Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Chrome

Previously Available Items
Pileo Floor Lamp Designed by Gae Aulenti for Artemide, 1970's
By Artemide, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pileo Floor Lamp Designed by Gae Aulenti for Artemide, 1970's. Made entirely of ABS plastic; the lampshade can be moved up and down and the light can ...
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1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Plastic

'Mezza Oracolo' Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide
By Artemide, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
'Mezza Oracolo' Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide. Designed and manufactured in Italy, in 1969. Globe light milk glass shade with perforated metal cylindrical, drum-like base. H...
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1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Metal, Brass

Aulenti Collection Coffee Table for Knoll International, 1976
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This coffee table was designed by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International in 1974 as part of the Aulenti Collection with matching chairs and sofas. This model is composed of a maroon ena...
Category

1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

"Alcinoo" Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide, 1975
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gae Aulenti (1927-2012) was a renowned Italian architect. Her projects include key cultural landmarks – Musée d’Orsay (1980–86) and the Contemporary Art Gallery at the Centre Pompido...
Category

1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Toaster by Gae Aulenti for Trabo, 1997
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Designed in 1997 Give your kitchen worktop a pop of colour with the TOAST Toaster by Italian designer, Gae Aulenti. Comprised of a stainless steel ca...
Category

1990s Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Stainless Steel

Toaster by Gae Aulenti for Trabo, 1997
Toaster by Gae Aulenti for Trabo, 1997
H 6.75 in W 14 in D 3.25 in
"Orsay" Chair by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, 1970s
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The "Orsay" chair was designed by Gae Aulenti and produced by Knoll International in 1970s. Like much of her work, this chair is known for its curved, lacquered metal frame. Though n...
Category

1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Metal

Black '54 L' Armchair by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, 1976
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Designed by Gae Aulenti and produced by Knoll International in 1976, this "54 L" arm chair has a refinished grey frame and black leather seat.  
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1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Set of 2 "Orsay" Chairs by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, 1970s
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
The "Orsay" chair was designed by Gae Aulenti and produced by Knoll International in 1970s. Like much of her work, this chair is known for its curved, lacquered metal frame. Though n...
Category

1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Metal

Fontana Arte Tavolo Con Ruote by Gae Aulenti, 1980, Italy
By Fontana Arte, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This rolling glass "Tavolo con Ruote" coffee table by Gae Aulenti was inspired by an industrial trolley that she saw being used at the Fontana Arte plant to transport glass. It has f...
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1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

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Iron

Gae Aulenti Jumbo Black and White Carrara Marble Table
By Knoll, Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Early Carrara marble table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll. Black top with white bases. Custom order in the 1960s. Extremely rare design. Great vintage condition. Original Knoll stickers.
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Gae Aulenti Jumbo Carrara Marble Table for Knoll
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Classic coffee table by Gae Aulenti in Carrara marble for Knoll. Made in the 1960s. Great vintage condition. Top is slightly darker than bases due ...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Carrara Marble

Pair of "Parola" Floor Lamps by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Pair of Parola floor lamps by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa 1980's. Glass, brass. Original EU cord. We recommend on E14 bulb per fixtur...
Category

1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Furniture

Materials

Brass

Gae Aulenti furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Gae Aulenti furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Gae Aulenti furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 220 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 41 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Gae Aulenti were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Tommaso Barbi, Toni Zuccheri, and Luigi Caccia Dominioni. Prices for Gae Aulenti furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $540 and can go as high as $33,395, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $3,894.

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