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Designers
Designers
Gino Sarfatti is one of the most significant figures in the history of
Italian industrial design. Throughout his career he developed more
than 700 luminaires as the creative engine behind Arteluce, the
company he founded in 1939 which brought lighting into the 20th
century combining innovative ideas with groundbreaking design.
Born in Venice in 1912, Gino Sarfatti studied to become an aero-
nautical engineer until family circumstances compelled him to
relocate to Milan where he had his first encounter with lighting,
an engineering project to transform a glass vase into a lamp. This
encounter with lighting design and engineering shaped the path
of his life.
Throughout his career, Gino Sarfatti explored and was inspired by
new product typologies, innovative materials, lighting technolo-
gies, and production techniques. His hybrid and entrepreneurial
talent as a designer and engineer enabled him to create refined
products in both aesthetics and function.
In 1973 Gino Sarfatti retired to the family villa on Lake Como, home
to many of the original designs.
Gino Sarfatti
Designer (1912-1985)
