Floor Lamp by Ernesto Gismondi for Artemide

The Italian engineer and entrepreneur Ernesto Gismondi (1931-2020) studied aeronautical engineering at the Politecnico di Milano (graduating in 1957) and rocket engineering in Rome (1959). In 1960, together with the designer Sergio Mazza, he founded Studio Artemide, from which the lighting manufacturer Artemide emerged, which he ran for decades. Besides his role as company founder, Gismondi also designed lamps himself: best documented is the table lamp 'Sintesi' (1976) in anodised aluminium and polypropylene with a movable articulated arm, represented in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Artemide also lists models such as 'Miconos' and 'Nur' under his name. In 1981 he was one of the co-founders of the Memphis design movement around Ettore Sottsass. Other Artemide classics such as 'Tolomeo' or 'Eclisse', on the other hand, are by other designers.