Italian mid-century Orange Footstools Locus Solus Gae Aulenti Poltronova, 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Poltronova (Manufacturer),Gae Aulenti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 16.15 in (41 cm)Width: 21.86 in (55.5 cm)Depth: 22.45 in (57 cm)Seat Height: 16.15 in (41 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:Good conditions, paint is missing in several parts of the structure. Several signs caused by use.
- Seller Location:MIlano, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4860228340412
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.
Poltronova
Poltronova is known for embracing the creativity that opposites can introduce to a space. Its radical modernist furniture and lighting fixtures are simultaneously grounded in classic aesthetics and inspired by what were then new and provocative artistic movements in mid-century Italy, when the company was founded. This tension resulted in unique and extraordinary pieces at the manufacturer, from eccentric, glove-shaped armchairs to striking dining tables that feature a mix of materials and textures.
Italian designer Sergio Cammilli founded Poltronova in Tuscany in 1957. That same year, it won the Compasso d’Oro for the Panchetto chair designed by Luciano Nustrini. Revolutionary Italian architect Ettore Sottsass — a maestro of postmodern design who would later establish the Memphis Group — came on board as an art director in 1958. Poltronova manufactured many of his furniture and ceramic designs. Sottsass’s lighting, seating and other works for Poltronova showcase the designer’s bold experimentation with solid wood, glass, metal and laminate materials.
Other established names in Italian furniture design collaborated with Poltronova’s Sottsass and Cammilli, including Giovanni Michelucci, Gae Aulenti and Angelo Mangiarotti. However, the company truly set itself apart in its collaborations with Superstudio and Archizoom Associati, groups that were part of an irreverent, avant-garde movement in art and design that took shape during the 1960s in Florence, Turin and Milan. Collectives associated with the movement — which would one day be called Italian Radical design — drew on Pop art and minimalism and explored working with unconventional materials to create colorful, quirky and uniquely shaped objects and furnishings. At the time, Poltronova also worked with up-and-coming names in the art world, like painter Max Ernst and sculptor Mario Ceroli.
Poltronova showcased its groundbreaking designs in many exhibitions, such as “La Casa Abitata,” which was held in Florence in 1965. At Milan's Eurodomus trade show in 1970, Poltronova debuted an entire bedroom collection designed by Sottsass — including his sensuous Ultrafragola mirror. The brand’s furnishings were included in a 1972 exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art called "Italy: The New Domestic Landscape," and in 1977, Poltronova again won the Compasso d’Oro for a book called Fare Mobili con Poltronova (Making Furniture with Poltronova).
Poltronova's enduring and acclaimed furniture designs came to be loved far outside Italy. During the 1960s, importer Charles Stendig represented the company and helped introduce it to the American market.
In 2005, Poltronova established the Centro Studi Poltronova to recreate some of the company's iconic furniture. The brand has also recently collaborated with English architect Nigel Coates, who worked with a Poltronova master craftsman in Italy to design a series of limited-edition furniture in 2011, including the Domo chair.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Poltronova tables, seating, storage cabinets and more.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Milan, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Italian Mid-Century Yellow Footstool Locus Solus Gae Aulenti Poltronova, 1960sBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in MIlano, ITItalian mid-century yellow footstool Locus Solus by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova, 1960s Footrest from the series Locus Solus in yellow painted...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Footstools
MaterialsMetal
- Italian modern daybed sofa Locus Solus by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova, 1970sBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern daybed sofa Locus Solus by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova, 1970s Daybed mod. Locus Solus with patina chromed metal structure. The structure is entirely in tubular, which i...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Beds and Bed Frames
MaterialsMetal
- Italian Mid-Century Modern Rounded Wicker Pouf, 1960sLocated in MIlano, ITItalian Mid-Century Modern rounded wicker pouf, 1960s Round footrest entirely covered in woven wicker, with four wooden legs. About 1960s Good genera...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Footstools
MaterialsWicker, Rattan
- Italian Mid-Century Modern Wooden 51 Poufs in Beige Fabric, 3 Pieces, 1960sLocated in MIlano, ITItalian Mid-Century Modern wooden poufs in beige fabric, 1960s. Set of three poufs in beige fabric and wooden structure. The poufs are cylindrical in shap...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Footstools
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Italian mid-century modern bed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, 1960sBy Ettore Sottsass, PoltronovaLocated in MIlano, ITItalian mid-century modern bed by Ettore Sottsass for Poltronova, 1960s Single bed or daybed entirely made of wood. The structures of the headboard and back are made up of rectangula...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
MaterialsMetal
- Italian Mid-Century Black Woood Saratoga Coffee Table Vignelli Poltronova, 1960sBy Poltronova, Massimo and Lella VignelliLocated in MIlano, ITItalian mid-century Black woood Saratoga coffee table by Vignelli for Poltronova, 1960s Saratoga square coffee table with rigid structure made by assembling three elements of equal ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Panchetto Locus Solus Gae Aulenti PoltronovaBy Gae AulentiLocated in Milano, LombardiaIl “Locus Solus” è stato concepito negli anni 60 e rappresenta un’icona del design moderno italiano. Caratterizzata da linee pulite e geometriche, la poltrona è stata realizzata con ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Folk Art Footstools
MaterialsMetal
- Locus Solus, Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaBy Gae AulentiLocated in Milano, LombardiaIl “Locus Solus” è stato concepito negli anni 60 e rappresenta un’icona del design moderno italiano. Caratterizzata da linee pulite e geometriche, la poltrona è stata realizzata con ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Gae Aulenti Locus Solus daybed for Poltronova, Italy 1964By Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated 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 Locus Solus ChairBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated in Vancouver, BCDesigned by Gae Aulenti and produced by Poltronova, are one of Aulenti’s most playful design pieces, with close features of the architectural structures she designed for Milan's Piaz...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Locus Solus daybed by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 60s, 70sBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated 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 Red SteelBy Poltronova, Gae AulentiLocated 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