Emma Gismondi Schweinberger

Emma Gismondi Schweinberger

Artemide x Danese Milano presentation featuring the Dedalino pen holder and the Dedalo umbrella stand by Emma Gismondi Schweinberger

Emma Gismondi Schweinberger was born in 1934 in Cologna Veneta, near Verona. She attended the Faculty of Architecture in Milan and completed her training in interior design at the Athenaeum in Lausanne in 1958. She subsequently settled in Milan, where she worked as an architect, interior designer and designer, devoting herself to the design of furniture, lighting and home accessories. She died on 13 July 2019 in Arenzano, Liguria.

A key milestone in Emma Gismondi Schweinberger’s career was her collaboration with Artemide, the Italian lighting and design company founded in 1960 by Ernesto Gismondi and Sergio Mazza. For Artemide, she designed, amongst other things, the Chi, Aminta and Jota light fittings, as well as numerous pieces of furniture and home accessories. These include the Giano Vano side table, the Dedalo umbrella stand, the Dedalotto flower stand and the Dedalino pen holder.

The Dedalino pen holder was created in 1966 and translates the characteristic shape of the larger Dedalo umbrella stand into a compact format. The design combines a clean, sculptural form with practical functionality and is a prime example of the experimental use of plastic that characterised Italian design in the 1960s. Today’s reissue by Danese Milano is based on the original design and is manufactured using technopolymer.

Gismondi Schweinberger’s work also gained international recognition. Her designs are included in the design collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, amongst others. MoMA includes the Dedalo umbrella stand, created in 1966, in its collection and honours Gismondi Schweinberger as an Italian designer.