Gae Aulenti Locus Solus dining set for Poltronova, Italy, 1964

Tubular metal garden set consisting of a table and four armchairs, model Locus Solus, designed by Gae Aulenti, produced by Poltronova in 1964.

A painted metal tube unpredictably bends and takes the form of tables, chairs, and armchairs, as if sketched by a continuous, unbroken line of a pencil moving across a page. This series of garden furniture is a technicolor snapshot of that summer of 1964 when it was born from the imagination of Gae Aulenti. With a refined and cultured literary reference, Aulenti named this project "Locus Solus," after the most famous work of Raymond Roussel. Roussel was a French writer, playwright, and poet who died by suicide in Palermo in 1933. Following his poetic drive, Roussel juxtaposed two almost identical phrases with different meanings, drawing inspiration from their resonances and associations to create imaginary stories generated solely by the play of language.

Following this thread, which connects various arts, Gae Aulenti's project emerged: a free flow of images, suggestions, and technical and aesthetic intuitions that form the rich emotional and expressive soil of the design for this highly successful series of garden furniture.

We find ourselves in that rarefied realm where the design process is preceded by a true aesthetic intuition: the "Locus Solus" furniture creates what can be called a minimalist and surrealist living room at the same time.

Gae Aulenti states, "My style? My way of working? Before arriving at the project: study history, literature, geography, even poetry and philosophy. Solutions must be invented each time, and books help. Then comes the synthesis, and finally the prophetic part: the ability to build things that last into the future."

The presented furniture pieces are original from the era and have undergone meticulous restoration, following the colors and aesthetic choices of the time.

Dimensions:
- Table: Height: 27.56 in (70 cm) - Width: 33.08 in (84 cm) - Depth: 33.08 in (84 cm)
- Chairs: Height: 26.78 in (68 cm) - Width: 22.05 in (56 cm) - Depth: 22.05 in (56 cm)