Ernesto Gismondi, Artemide founder, dies at 89

Ernesto Gismondi, founder of lighting design company Artemide, died on December 31 at age 89. Born in Sanremo on Christmas Day 1931, he earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano and specialized in Missile Engineering at the Scuola Superiore di Ingegneria di Roma. He taught Missile Engines at Politecnico for twenty years (1964–1984). In 1960, he co-founded Studio Artemide in Pregnana Milanese. The first lamp, Alfa, was designed by architect Sergio Mazza. Gismondi pioneered the use of plastic in furniture, inspired by the polyester resin with fiberglass used for missile launch consoles. Artemide's plastic furniture line ended due to high production costs and the 1970s oil crisis, after which the company focused on lighting. Iconic lamps include Eclisse (Vico Magistretti, 1965, Compasso d'Oro 1967), Tizio (Richard Sapper, 1972), Aggregato (Enzo Mari and Giancarlo Fassina), and Tolomeo (Fassina with Michele de Lucchi, Compasso d'Oro 1989). Artemide won the Compasso d'Oro again in 2004 and 2014. Gismondi participated in the Memphis movement in the 1980s. He received the European Design Prize (1997) and the Compasso d'Oro alla Carriera (2018). Artemide is now led by his wife, architect and designer Carlotta de Bevilacqua.