Gae Aulenti for New Lamp Table Lamp in Neon Yellow Green Acrylic and Metal

Gae Aulenti for New Lamp, table lamp, acrylic, chrome-plated metal, metal, Italy, circa 1970

This radical designed table lamp is by the female architect designer Gae Aulenti, made for New Lamp around 1970. This lighting object has a hauntingly mesmerizing light that draws the beholder's eye. The construction features a metal base with a chrome-plated sphere inserted with undulating sheets of neon yellow green acrylic. The light shines through the sheets and highlights their outer edges. The use of a bright color and acrylic sheets in this design places it in the Pop Art era, reminiscent of the contemporaneous experimentation of avant-garde sculptors. This lamp is a great example of the technical advances in lamp design in Italy, starting in the late 1950s. It represents an imaginative response to the availability of translucent plexiglass sheets. The use of plexiglass opened a whole new range of possibilities in the field of lamp design. The material has the transparent quality of glass, while at the same time being less fragile and therefore less dangerous in use. It also has a very specific way of transmitting the light, which appears to be passing through the sheet slower than through glass. Not to forget, the simple formability is a great benefit that allows the designer to create various constellations. The present lamp is a highly innovative piece of lighting with a strong sense of three-dimensionality and spatiality.

Gae Aulenti (1927-2012) was an Italian designer and architect. In 1954, she graduated at the Milan School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University and was only one of two women from her class of 20. Aulenti is mostly known for her large-scale museum projects such as her work for the Musée d’Orsay and Centre Pompidou in Paris, and Palazzo Grassi in Venice. Aulenti was at the forefront of Italian post-war design. Her design was meant to make connections with both history and future of Italy. The postmodern movement that Aulenti belonged to refused to design in the objective language of the modernists. This Avant Garde Postmodern design movement was the beginning of a new type of Italian art, architecture and design.

Please note that this item is in good, used condition. For further information we kindly ask you to reach out to our team of design specialists.

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