Ernesto Gismondi, the founder of Artemide and a dear member of the Luminaire family, passed away on December 31, 2020. Gismondi’s influence on the design world can not be overstated, and his legacy will be forever felt.
Gismondi was a visionary whose work illuminated the path for so much of the industrial design community. Born in San Remo in 1931, in 1957, he gained a degree in Aeronautical Engineering at the Milan Polytechnic, where he later served as an associate professor of Rocket Engines for Missiles, and in 1959 he earned a degree in Missile Engineering at the Professional School of Engineering in Rome.
In 1959, together with designer Sergio Mazza, he founded Studio Artemide S.a.s., from which the Artemide Group would later develop. In the early days Gismondi designed some lamps for Artemide under the pseudonym of Orni Halloween, and later with his real name. Since the early 60’s he dedicated himself to the design and manufacturing of lighting products. His work spanned decades and resulted in multiple staples of design history.
Gismondi was also one of the Memphis Collective creators, the avant-garde movement led to a significant change in Italy’s design sector and the world. “With Memphis design has gone from a landscape of grey, rectangular and uniform furniture to completely new proposals.” Like many creative movements, Memphis was a reaction against the status quo. The 1950s/60s mid-century modern and 1970s minimalism were about structure and straight lines. To counter that, the Memphis group’s thinking was focused around “radical, funny, and outrageous”—essentially, disregarding what was considered in “good taste” at that time.
Gismondi’s work in lighting was instilled with values and traits from his various explorations in design, filled with distinctive shapes and functional clarity, always paired with an emotional dimension. The boldly vaulted Nur pendant light exudes calm and coziness; the Piroscafo bollard light is reminiscent of a bent boat chimney and provides ponds and pools with unique accents. Innovation played a significant role for Gismondi’s lamps. He used modern LED technology possibilities in terms of shape and lighting technology, for example, with the ethereal Discovery light or the Metacolor floor lamp, which glows in many colors. Gismondi’s goal was always to design for people, provide them with a gratifying experience, and promote general well-being. As a result, his, and Artemide’s, designs are not just simple lamps; they are design objects of the highest quality with their own culture and history, always very successful and current no matter how old they are.
Throughout his career, Gismondi was recognized for his talent, vision, and dedication to tirelessly producing and promoting the best of Made in Italy design and manufacture. A recipient of various awards, most recently Gismodndi won the Compasso D’Oro for lifetime achievement in 2018. While Gismondi may be gone, his work will forever illuminate the minds, walls and dreams of the design world.
January 2021
