Gaetano Desk Glass Table attributed to Gae Aulenti for Zanotta, 1970s

Italian architect-designer Gaetana “Gae” Aulenti (1927-2012) was born in the town of Palazzolo dello Stella, near Trieste. Defying her parents’ wishes, she studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1954—one of only two women in a class of 20.

From 1955 to 1965, Aulenti was a contributor and Art Director for architectural magazine Casabella. During this time, she became an active proponent of the Neo Liberty movement and championed the revival of traditions motifs and individual expression, which had been discouraged during the years dominated by modernism. Through her wide-ranging work—covering industrial and exhibition design, furniture, graphics, stage design, lighting, and interior design—she became a leading voice of postmodernism as the 20th century progressed. Notably, her work was featured in MoMA’s landmark 1972 exhibition, Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, which also spotlighted the work of pioneering talents like Mario Bellini, Joe Colombo, Ettore Sottsass, and Superstudio, to name a few.

Aulenti’s architectural career is remarkable for the fact that she salvaged and repurposed a substantial number of buildings that were neglected or even set for demolition. In 1980, she was offered the difficult challenge of reinventing the old Beaux-Arts-style Gare d’Orsay railway station in Paris, transforming it into the famous Musée d‘Orsay. In this project, she chose to bridge the architectural gap between the Louvre and the Pompidou Centre by creating a cavernous and expansive interior for the museum. When the Musée d‘Orsay opened in 1986, it was deemed too radical by many critics. Aulenti, however, was quick to point out the thousands of visitors who lined up each day to visit.

Soon after, Aulenti took on more large-scale museum re-designs, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne at the Centre Pompidou (1982-85); Palazzo Grassi in Venice (1985-86); and the new Asian Art Museum in San Francisco (1996-2003). Other architectural achievements include the new entrance for Santa Maria Novella Train Station in Florence (1990); Palazzo Italia at EXPO in Seville (1992); the restoration of the Scuderie Papali at the Quirinale in Rome (1999); the renovation of Piazzale Cadorna in Milan (2000); the Museo and Dante stations on underground line 1, alongside the redesign of Piazza Cavour and Piazza Dante in Naples (1999-2002); the Catalan Museum of Art in Barcelona (1985-2004); the restoration of the Palavela in Turin for the Winter Olympic Games in 2006; the Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Tokyo (2006); and the restoration of Palazzo Branciforte in Palermo (2011).

In the areas of furniture, branding, and interior design, Aulenti was regularly commissioned by major international companies, such as Artemide, Banca Commerciale Itliana, Fiat, Ideal Standard, Knoll International, Louis Vuitton, Martinelli Luce , Olivetti , and Pirelli , among others. Iconic designs by Aulenti include the Pileino Lamp for Artemide (1972); the Giova Lamp (1964), Tavolo Con Ruote Table (1980), and Tour Table (1993) for Fontana Arte; the Sgarsul Rocking Chair (1962) and Locus Solus Chair (1963) for Poltranova ; and April Folding Chair (1964), and Sanmarco Table (1984) for Zanotta. Many of her designs remain in production today.

Aulenti won many awards over the course of her career, including the Ubi Prize for Stage Design in 1980; the Architecture Medal from the Academie d'Architecture, Paris in 1983; the Josef Hoffmann Prize from the Hochschule fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna in 1984; France’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 1987; the Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1991; and the title of “Knight Grand Cross” of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 1995.

Aulenti passed away in 2012 at the age of 85. She remains a significant architectural influence who made incredible strides for women in her profession. 

*Images courtesy of Archivo Gae Aulenti, Artemide, Martinelli Luce, Zanotta

Design luminary Emilio Ambasz, in 1988, wrote that the history of Italian design “could not be written without referring to [Zanotta’s} contribution.” Aurelio Zanotta founded Zanotta in Nova Milanese in 1954. In the early years, the company manufactured mostly sofas and armchairs that never made it into the history books. In the 1960s, however, Zanotta began working with the most conceptually driven designers of the days—the Castiglioni brothers, Joe Colombo, and Ettore Sottsass, for example—and by the end of the decade, Zanotta has produced some of the world’s most iconic works of postmodern and radical design.

 Among Zanotta’s notable designs from this game-changing era are the plastic-covered Throw-Away Armchair by Willie Landels (1965); the interlocking Karelia Lounge by Liisi Beckmann (1966); the inflatable Blow Chair by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D'Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi, and Carla Scolari (1967); the prefabricated portable living space Guscio Hut by Roberto Menghi (1968); the beanbag-like Sacco Lounge by Paolini, Gatti, and Teodoro (1968); and the poster child for the radical design movement, the Quaderna Console by Superstudio (1971).

In the 1970s, Zanotta began to mine design history for important, boundary-breaking works that were no longer in production. The first project in this vein was the Castiglioni’s Mezzadro Stool, which had been designed in 1957—inspired by Marcel Duchamp’s concept of “ready-mades—but was never made in large quantities. Spurred on by the success of this re-edition, Zanotta followed with more, for example Italian rationalist architect Giuseppe Terragni’s Follia Chair (1934); Italian designer Marco Zanuso’s Maggiolina Lounge Chair (1947); and Swiss architect Max Bill’s Sgabillo Stool (1952). Zanotta would go to re-edition super rare designs by Italian designer Carlo Mollino, as well. 

In the ’80s, Aurelio Zanotta founded Zabro (Zanotta Brothers) with Alessandro Mendini and Studio Alchimia. This experimental workshop aimed to conserve Italian craft heritage while exploring new design languages. This led to the creation of unclassifiable hybrid objects like Mendini’s Zabro Table/Chair (1984), which transforms from a kind of throne into a dining table. Zanotta next launched Zanotta Edizioni in 1989 to answer to a more selective, collector market. Among these limited editions are Bruno Munari’s Singer Chair Object (1945), Mendini’s Colomobio Chest of Drawers (1985/88), and Joe Tilson’s Alchera Chest (1992). 

Today, Zanotta continues to produce many of its designs classics alongside new contemporary designs. The company has over 200 pieces inside the permanent collections of the most prestigious museums, like the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, the Victoria & Albert in London, the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, and the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein.