Ernesto Gismondi, the “engineer” of design lamps, founder of Artemide, died at the age of 89. He was born in Sanremo on 25 December 1931, on Christmas day, and died on New Year's day. Gismondi had graduated in Aeronautical Engineering at the Milan Polytechnic and in Rocket Engineering at the Higher School of Engineering in Rome. In 1959 he founded with the architect Sergio Mazza Studio Artemide Sas, which later became the Artemide Group, which is still based in Pregnana Milanese.
A brand destined to change the lines and the history of lamp design in the world: among the most famous and awarded the Aton Barra, built in 1980, which, as Gismondi himself recalled in an interview, «brought Artemide into the world of the office, opening up new perspectives in the world of light and in the conception of the work space», the Tolomeo, the Eclisse and the Discovery.
Over the years the Artemide Group has collaborated with great exponents of architecture and design, from Vico Magistretti to Gae Aulenti and Gio Ponti. Gismondi was also a man of many interests: from 1964 to 1984 he was associate professor of rocket engines at the Milan Polytechnic, and was also vice president of Adi – Industrial Design Association, as well as a member of the scientific didactic committee of the ISIA (Higher Institute for Artistic Industries/Industrial Design) in Florence. His commitment has been rewarded with numerous awards, including, in addition to the many "Compassi d'oro" also the European design prize in 1997.
