Gae Aulenti
Italy · 1927 to 2012
Italian modernism with a warmer pulse than the steel-and-glass stereotype.
I have not tested every piece myself unless I say so. Prices move. The retailer's price when you order is the one that counts. How I work
Aulenti is the designer I name when a lamp should feel like a small building on the table.
Gae Aulenti (1927-2012) moved between architecture, interiors and products. The work I keep on Vestados is mostly lighting and tables: clear geometries, soft light, and pieces that hold their own next to older furniture.
How I read her style
Photo coming
Bold silhouettes, calm materials, light that pools instead of stabbing.
Think mushroom shades, telescopic stems, stone or metal bases, and rooms that mix decades without apology. Warm plaster and walnut sit better with her work than cold white boxes.
- 1 Table lamp · similar to Pipistrello · [[product:pipistrello-lamp]]
- 2 Sideboard · similar to · [[product:fluted-sideboard]]
Pipistrello lamp (1965)
Photo coming
The telescopic mushroom shade is still the Aulenti piece people recognise in one glance.
Martinelli Luce produces the authorised Pipistrello. Height adjusts. The methacrylate shade softens the bulb. Stock mushroom lamps are almost always similar to. I only mark exact with a clear Martinelli path.
- 1 Pipistrello · similar to · [[product:pipistrello-lamp]]
- 2 Console · similar to · [[product:oak-console]]
Tavolo con ruote
Photo coming
Industrial glass on casters that still looks intentional in a living room.
FontanaArte's Tavolo con ruote (1980) puts thick glass on four large wheels. Copies are common. Caption similar to unless FontanaArte is confirmed.
- 1 Coffee or side table · similar to Tavolo con ruote · [[product:tavolo-con-ruote]]
- 2 Chair beside · similar to · [[product:wishbone-chair]]
Jumbo coffee table
Photo coming
Four block legs and a thick top: marble as furniture, not as a tray.
Jumbo (1965, Knoll) is heavy, square and unapologetic. Most stock marble tables are only similar to. The product row will replace the placeholder when it exists.
- 1 Coffee table · similar to Jumbo · [[product:jumbo-coffee-table]]
- 2 Sofa · similar to · [[product:linen-sofa]]
Italian icons are heavily copied. I under-claim on every stock frame.
Related lighting tiles often sit in the same rooms as Aulenti pieces.
Made today by Martinelli Luce.