May 22, 2024–January 12, 2025
Milan 20121
Italy
Triennale Milano presents the exhibition Gae Aulenti (1927–2012), staged in collaboration with the Archivio Gae Aulenti and curated by Giovanni Agosti with Nina Artioli, director of the Archivio Gae Aulenti, and Nina Bassoli, curator for Architecture, Urban Regeneration and Cities at Triennale, with exhibition design by the Tspoon studio. The exhibition pays homage to one of the most representative figures of Italian and international architecture and design in the late 20th century and early 2000s, in the first large monographic exhibition dedicated to her entire career, that lasted over sixty years.
The exhibition—opened until January 12, 2025—traces, in a concise yet striking manner, Aulenti’s human and professional story, with a glance also at the interplay of architecture with the other arts, as well as the interplay between culture and politics. It does not simply involve a selection, whether broad or narrow, of drawings and designs, prototypes and sketches, maquettes and photographs, to be displayed on the walls or in show cases, although these are there too; rather, the occasion is intended to be a comprehensive reappraisal through life-size reconstructions of parts of Gae Aulenti’s works. Triennale Milano is the institution that has, more than any other institution, accompanied Gae Aulenti on her long journey of expressive adventures: it was here that her career began, in the early 1950s; and it was here that she came on October 16, 2012 to receive the Medaglia d’Oro alla carriera (Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement) for her contribution to Italian architecture.
Triennale has also realized the podcast “Gae Aulenti’s Legacy,” that takes a closer look at many of the themes of the exhibition, concentrating in particular on the huge impact Aulenti’s work has had on architecture, design, and performance, while also exploring her life and career. Gae Aulenti’s Legacy is a five-episode podcast series hosted by the British writer and design critic Alice Rawsthorn, that looks at Gae Aulenti through the voices of friends, curators, and architects who knew her personally or through her work.
A new episode will be published on triennale.org every two weeks. The podcast guests are: Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of the Department of Architecture and Design and Director of Research and Development at MoMA, who will talk about Gae Aulenti’s work in design; Stefano Boeri, architect and President of Triennale Milano, who will assess her long term legacy in design and architecture; the composer Ludovico Einaudi, who will focus on Aulenti’s work in performance and set design; the gallerist Antonia Jannone, a close friend of Gae Aulenti, who will discuss the evolution of her career; and the architect Farshid Moussavi, who will concentrate on her impact on architecture.
The episode one, “Paola Antonelli on Gae Aulenti and Design,” with Paola Antonelli is now online. The episode explores Gae Aulenti’s work, her career, her influences in the design world, and her eclectic work in industrial design through a few of the objects most symbolic of her work: from the Pipistrello, Rimorchiatore, and Patroclo lamps to the Sgarsul chair. Next episodes will be online: episode two with Farshid Moussavi on June 20; episode three with Antonia Jannone on July 4; episode four with Ludovico Einaudi on July 18; episode 5 with Stefano Boeri on August 1.
Gae Aulenti’s Legacy is the fourteenth podcast produced by Triennale Milano. All the episodes will be available on triennale.org and the streaming platforms Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple.
