CMU School of Drama


Monday, August 30, 2021

Gae Aulenti

Women in Lighting: Lighting Design is a multi-faceted discipline in a sense that designing a lighting product is as significant as designing spaces with light. With a small experiment by Humphry Davy to develop an electric bulb to the modern-day LEDs, the evolution of lamp design is quite interesting to look at. The history of design in general can be traced back from the evolution of lamp design with different shapes, materials & styles.

2 comments:

Sawyer Anderson said...


Gae’s last quote “it seems to me that certain new lights have turned conversation in living rooms into an interrogation,” struck me as being incredibly accurate to much of today's lighting. I personally find when there is a white bulb, LED, or exposed bulb it’s harsh on the eyes and it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable and tired. It’s interesting to me that the shapes Aulenti uses in her work are quite heavy, however many of the materials are translucent which creates a lighter feel. All her pieces have so much fluidity, unlike many lamps where the like merely is from the bulbs, the light moves through the lamp itself, such as in the Parola lamp where the base is glass or the Giova lamp where the light can project up into the flowers.

Madeline Miller said...

Gae Aulenti is a master. She has dedicated her life to doing what she wants, despite expectations and norms. To be one of the few women in her field, to go against her parents' wishes for her, to create whimsical custom fixtures, all is a testament to her individuality and love for what she does. Neo-liberty is a style I knew nothing about before reading this article. However, the focus on personality is evident in the fixtures Aulenti creates. Each piece is unique, designed for the space it inhabits, and given the attention of a one-of-a-kind art piece. Her products are not mass-produced table lamps but rather a seamless combination of interior design, product design, fine art, and lighting design. Aulenti has earned her place as an authority in her field, and her beautiful designs are only one fraction of what she offers to the lighting industry as a whole.