Gae Aulenti Lighting
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.
1970s European Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Chrome
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Acrylic
1970s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Murano Glass
1970s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Murano Glass
1960s Slovenian Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
1970s German Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Plastic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Glass
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Brass
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel, Chrome
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum, Metal
1960s Italian Space Age Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum, Iron, Chrome
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Crystal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
1980s Italian Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1960s Slovenian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Chrome
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Glass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum, Stainless Steel, Iron
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Murano Glass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Plastic
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Murano Glass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Plastic
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Crystal
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gae Aulenti Lighting
Glass, Art Glass, Blown Glass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Steel
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gae Aulenti Lighting
Murano Glass