Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo Table or Floor Lamp – Design: Gae Aulenti – Catalogue 1976
Lamps in the movies
A Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo table or floor lamp was used as a prop in the Italian crime TV mini series Maltese – Il Romanzo del Commissario from 2017. Starring Kim Rossi Stuart and Rike Schmid.
A Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo table or floor lamp was used as a prop in the 2020 Spanish-German crime film Ofrenda A La Tormenta (Offering to the Storm). It is the third and final instalment in the Baztán Trilogy. In all 3 films many lamps appear. Although it is almost an overkill in this last film. Starring Marta Etura, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Paco Tous.
A Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo table or floor lamp together with the Oracolo floor lamp were used to decorate the stage of the Teléthon charity event broadcast in December 2019 on the French TV station France 3.
Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo Table or Floor Lamp
Materials: Perforated round tubular base in dark brown coated metal with hammer-blow paint. White opal glass globe lampshade. Bakelite E14 sockets.
Globe: ∅ 45 cm / 17.71”
Height: 67 cm / 26.37”
Base: ∅ 31 cm / 12.20”
Electricity: 2 bulbs E14, 2 x 40 watt, 1 bulb E27, 1 x 75 watt maximum. 110/220 volt.
Any type of light bulb can be used, but a white/opal/frosted bulb is preferred.
Period: 1970s – Mid-Century Modern.
Designer: Gae Aulenti (1927 – 2012) in 1973.
Manufacturer: Artemide, Pregnana Milanese, near Milan, Italy.
Other versions: Made in two versions. A bigger floor lamp was made, it is named Oracolo (Oracle). It is 140 cm / 55.11”. This one is Mezzoracolo (Half Oracle). The Mezzoracolo was intended as a table lamp but most people use it as a floor lamp.
Gae Aulenti
Gae Aulenti, born 4 December 1927 as Gaetana Aulenti in Palazzolo dello Stella, Italy, some 90 km (56 miles) from Venice. She studied to be an architect at the Milan School of Architecture of the Polytechnic University (Politecnico di Milano), and graduated in 1954. Gae Aulenti began her career as an architect and freelance designer. She designed many interior designs and furniture for companies such as Fiat, Pirelli, Olivetti, Knoll International, Ideal Standard, Zanotta and Louis Vuitton.
Gae Aulenti designed lamps for among others: Artemide, Vistosi, Candle, Fontana Arte, iGuzzini, Poltronova, Stilnovo , Martinelli Luce.
The Harvey Guzzini Quadrifoglio is not a design by Gae Aulenti. It is published wrong in books. Gae Aulenti started to work for the iGuzzini company in 1985 and created together with Piero Castiglioni the (industrial) Cestello lamp for the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, Italy; 17 years after the Quadrofoglio was designed by Studio 6G, the Harvey Guzzini design-team.
Aulenti received many awards for her designs and she is seen as one of the greatest Italian designers after World War II. Gae Aulenti died in Milan on 31 October 2012, she was 84.
Artemide
The Artemide Group is based in Pregnana Milanese, Italy. The company is best known for the Tizio desk lamp designed by Richard Sapper in 1972 and the Tolomeo desk lamp, designed by Michele De Lucchi and Giancarlo Fassina in 1986.
Designers who have collaborated with the company include Mario Botta, Sir Norman Foster, Ettore Sottsass, Enzo Mari, Neil Poulton, Karim Rashid, Giò Ponti and many others.
Gae Aulenti Mezzoracolo Table or Floor Lamp – Design: Gae Aulenti – Catalogue 1973
Gae Aulenti Oracolo Floor Lamp – Design: Gae Aulenti – Catalogue 1973
Links (external links open in a new window)
Gae Aulenti on the Martinelli Luce website
Artemide design in the MoMA – Museum of Modern Art NY
Maltese – Il Romanzo del Commissario (2017) – IMDb
Ofrenda A La Tormenta (2020) – Wikipedia
Ofrenda A La Tormenta (2020) – IMDb
Téléthon charity event – Wikipedia (in French)
Vintageinfo
Harvey Guzzini Quadrifoglio lamp
1976 Artemide Studio A catalogue
Martinelli Luce Pipistrello table lamp – Gae Aulenti design
Many thanks to Hans from Objeta for the beautiful pictures and the enthusiasm.