Gae Aulenti, pseudonym of Gaetana Emilia Aulenti, was an Italian designer and architect, and she is considered one of the best of her generation, and she has left an indelible mark on the design history. During her career, she has won numerous awards including the Imperial Prix for architecture awarded by the Japan Art Association of Tokyo. Since 1956, she has worked in Milan, where she has dedicated herself to architectural design, interior and industrial design and also to theatrical scenography. In 1979 she became the art director of FontanaArte for which she designs numerous lamps and furnishing objects that today are still in the catalog. There are also many prestigious architectural projects that she completed, including the redevelopment and new installations of the Musée d'Orsay (1980-86) and the Musée National d'Art Moderne at the Center Pompidou (1982-85); the redevelopment of Palazzo Grassi in Venice (1985-86); the new access to the Santa Maria Novella station in Florence (1990); the Palazzo Italia at EXPO '92 in Seville; the restructuring of the old Papal Stables at the Quirinale in Rome (1999); the redevelopment of piazzale Cadorna in Milan (2000); the “Museo” and “Dante” stations of metro line 1 and the redesign of the Cavour and Dante squares in Naples (1999-2002); the new Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (1996-2003); the Museum of Catalan Art in Barcelona (1985-2004); the restructuring of the Palavela in Turin for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games; the Italian Cultural Institute in Tokyo (2006); the restoration and transformation into a museum center of Palazzo Branciforte in Palermo (2011). She also received many awards and recognitions including: "Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur" (Paris), Honorary Member of the American Institute of Architects - Hon. FAIA; Praemium Imperiale for Architecture (Tokyo), “Knight of the Grand Cross” of the Italian Republic (Rome).