Gae Aulenti, Kuka, Daybed, Zanotta, 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Gae Aulenti (Designer),Zanotta (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.6 in (65 cm)Width: 59.06 in (150 cm)Depth: 59.06 in (150 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1972
- Condition:Reupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Paris, FR
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2192325803832
Gae Aulenti
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.
Zanotta
Entrepreneur Aurelio Zanotta founded Zanotta in 1954 in Nova Milanese, Italy. Originally called Zanotta Poltrona, it specialized in traditional furniture. By the early 1960s, however, Zanotta had established a reputation for edgy mid-century modern design. Today’s vintage furniture collectors know the brand well for its innovative and wholly sculptural chairs, coffee tables and more.
One of Zanotta’s earliest successes was the Mezzadro stool — better known as the Tractor stool — designed by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and his brother Achille in the late 1950s. In 1965, Zanotta was among the first furniture companies to work with expanded polyurethane foam and frameless construction, such as for the Throw-Away sofas and armchairs designed by Willie Landels. Another popular design was the Blow chair — designed by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi and Carla Scolari — viewed by many as a physical expression of late '60s carefree culture.
In 1969, amid the provocative movement we now call Italian Radical Design, Zanotta’s Sacco chair garnered major attention. The boundary-pushing beanbag chair was the brainchild of designers Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro who presented it to Aurelio Zanotta as a transparent vinyl sack loosely filled with small polystyrene balls. He suggested its signature brightly colored leather.
The Sacco chair won the 1970 ADI Design Museum’s Compasso d’Oro award. In 1972, the Museum of Modern Art in New York included it in the landmark exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” curated by designer Emilio Ambasz. In 2020, it received a Compasso d’Oro ADI Lifetime Achievement Award for 50 years of enduring popularity. It is now in museum collections around the world including the Triennale Design Museum of Milan, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
After Aurelio Zanotta died in 1991, the company remained in his family and has been run by his three children since 2002. Zanotta continues to set the bar high for furniture design with trend-setting pieces.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Zanotta seating, tables and other furniture.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Paris, France
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- De Pas, D’urbino, Lomazzi, Settebello, a Modular Sofa, Zanotta, 1974By Zanotta, Gionathan de Pas & Donato D’Urbino & Paolo LomazziLocated in Paris, FRDe Pas, D’Urbino, Lomazzi Settebello A modular sofa system, made of six rectangular polyurethane elements covered with brown fabric joined with straps. Produit par Zanotta, Mi...Category
Vintage 1970s French Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Afra & Tobia Scarpa, A large sofa, "Soriana", Cassina, 1970sBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, CassinaLocated in Paris, FRAfra & Tobia Scarpa Soriana A brown velvet covered and metal framed sofa. Produced by Cassina. Cassina label underneath. Circa 1970. Italy. ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Sofas
MaterialsVelvet
- Paolo Piva, Alanda, Sofa, B&B Italia, 1980sBy B&B Italia, Paolo PivaLocated in Paris, FRPaolo Piva Alanda A rectangular two-seater sofa with mobile headrests and armrests covered with its multicolored original fabric upholstery. Original edition by B&B Italia. With B&B Italia label. Italy. Circa 1980. Dimensions Height : 74 cm With headrests raised : 88 cm Width : 210 cm With armrests raised : 194 cm Depth : 106 cm With headrests raised : 86 cm Height of seat : 42 cm Literature Domus 633, November 1982, p.26-29 Domus 634, December 1982, p.22-23 Giuliana Gramigna, Repertorio del design italiano 1950-2000 per l'arredamento domestico, Umberto Allemandi, 2003, p.277 Mario Mastropietro, Rolando Gorla, Un’industria per il design : la ricerca i designers, l’immagine B&B Italia, Edizioni Lybra Immagine, Milano, 1986, p.394-397. Paolo Piva Paolo Piva was born in Adria in 1950. He studied architecture at the Venice Istituto Universitario di Architettura under the direction of Carlo Scarpa and Carlo Aymonino. He practiced architecture and industrial design mainly in Italy and Austria. In 1990, he became a professor at the Hochschule für Angewande Kunst in Vienna. He designed factories in Italy, such as in Misinto for B&B Italia, galeries such as Schullin in Vienna for which he was awarded the « Adolf Loos » prize in 1994. In 1996, he designed book-shops and cafeterias for the Venetian Civic Museums. The same year, he participated in the 6th International Exhibition of Architecture at the Venice Biennale. Alanda The idea behind the Alanda was to create a « mobile » piece of furniture. Developed with the B&B Research Centre, the mechanism allows different positions following the changing needs of the user. « Alanda was conceived as an open object...Category
Vintage 1980s French Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Cini Boeri, Bengodi, Velvet Sofa, Arflex, 1974By Cini Boeri, ArflexLocated in Paris, FRCini Boeri (1924-2020) Bengodi A rectangular three-seater sofa covered with velvet upholstery, the seat and back each with two cushions on six feet. Original edition by Arflex. Ita...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Sofas
MaterialsVelvet
- Angelo Mangiarotti, Primavera, Vase, Colle, 1970sBy Angelo MangiarottiLocated in Paris, FRA cristal vase with a triangular elongated body. Colle. 1970s.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Glass
MaterialsCrystal
- Angelo Mangiarotti, "Eros", Dining Table, Skipper, 1970sBy Skipper, Angelo MangiarottiLocated in Paris, FRA light grey marble round table, the top pierced at the center and receiving the conical marble stem. Produced by Skipper, Italy, 1970s. N...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Dining Room Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Gae Aulenti «Locus Solus» DaybedBy Gae AulentiLocated in Forest, BEThis bed was designed by the Italian architect Gae Aulenti, as a representative work of her designs. The name “Locus Solus” comes from a novel by the French writer Raymond Roussel. I...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Daybeds
MaterialsSteel
- Gae Aulenti Locus Solus daybed for Poltronova, Italy 1964By Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in London, GBGae Aulenti (1927-2012) was a renowned Italian architect, famous for key cultural landmarks – the Musée d’Orsay (1980–86), the Contemporary Art Gallery at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the restoration of Palazzo Grassi in Venice (1985–86). Often straying from architecture into furniture, exhibitions, graphic and interiors, her design ethos is best understood in her own words: “Advice to whoever asks me how to make a home is to not have anything, just a few shelves for books, some pillows to sit on… to take a stand against the ephemeral, against passing trends [and] return to lasting values.” With the Locus Solus daybed...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Daybeds
MaterialsChrome
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Daybed in Red SteelBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltronova Production, daybed model 'Locus Solus', red laquered steel, Italy, 1964 This daybed by Gae Aulenti is part of the 'Locus Solus' series created in 1964. T...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsSteel
- Locus Solus daybed by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 60s, 70sBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Padova, ITGae Aulenti, pseudonym of Gaetana Emilia Aulenti (Palazzolo dello Stella, 4 December 1927 – Milan, 31 October 2012), was an Italian designer and architect, particularly dedicated to ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsSteel
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Locus Solus' Daybed in Chrome-Plated SteelBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltronova Production, daybed model 'Locus Solus', chrome-plated steel, Larsen fabric, Italy, 1964 This daybed by Gae Aulenti is part of the 'Locus Solus' series cr...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsSteel, Chrome
- Vintage Leather Patchwork Sofa Daybed, Circa 1970sBy De SedeLocated in San Antonio, TXVintage leather patchwork daybed sofa features quality leather in varying hues of warm browns with removable seat, arm, and back cushions. This daybed sofa has a deep seat, nice pati...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Beech
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
We Dare You Not to Smile at These Whimsical Italian Designs
Make anyplace your happy place with Italian furniture at its subversive best.
With Zanotta House, an Italian Design Dream Home Lands in New York City
Alessia Genova takes us on a tour of her design for the eminent furniture maker’s new shoppable townhouse in Greenwich Village.