Leather Sofa by Gae Aulenti
View Similar Items
Leather Sofa by Gae Aulenti
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Manufacturer),Gae Aulenti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Width: 89.5 in (227.33 cm)Depth: 33.5 in (85.09 cm)Seat Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1984
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading. Original, vintage condition, displaying minor signs of history and character. Leather displays age, wrinkling, light spotting and one four inch split on middle seat as pictured, metal frame displays some knicks and scuff marks.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU105861247524
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.
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
- Stringa 2-seater Leather Sofa by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova, 1960sBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Ixelles, BruxellesDesigner - Gae Aulenti Producer - Poltronova Model - Stringa 2-seater Sofa Design Period - Sixties Measurements - Width 132 cm x Depth 90 cm x Height 74 cm x Seat Height 40 cm Mater...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Gae Aulenti for Poltronova 'Stringa' SofaBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Waalwijk, NLGae Aulenti for Poltranova, sofa model 'Stringa', leather, chromed metal, blue fabric upholstery, Italy, 1962 'Stringa' sofa designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltranova in 1962. A tubula...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Stringa Sofa Set by Gae Aulenti for PoltronovaBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Byron Bay, NSW"Stringa" sofa designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltranova in 1962. A tubular chrome frame holds leather seats on top of felt upholstered cushions. The leather cushions are attached with ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Sofas
MaterialsChrome
- Stringa Sofa Set by Gae Aulenti for PoltronovaBy Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Byron Bay, NSW"Stringa" sofa designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltranova in 1962. A tubular chrome frame holds leather seats on top of felt upholstered cushions. The leather cushions are attached with ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Space Age Sofas
MaterialsChrome
- Lounge Sofa by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, 1976By Gae AulentiLocated in Los Angeles, CAThree 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
Vintage 1970s European Post-Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
- Three seater "Stringa" leather sofa by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova Italy 1962By Gae Aulenti, PoltronovaLocated in Renens, CHThree seater "Stringa" leather sofa by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova Italy 1962 The Stringa three-seater leather sofa, designed by Gae Aulenti for Poltronova in Italy in 1962, stands a...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsStainless Steel