Gae Aulenti was born in Palazzolo dello Stella in Italy on December 4, 1927 as Gaetana Aulent.  Against her parents’ wishes, who wanted her to be a nice society girl, she tudied architecture at the Milan Polytechnic Univesity, graduating in 1954 as one of two women in a class of 20.   After graduation, she went to work for the design magazine, Casabella, where she was art director from 1955 until 1965.  After getting her doctorate, she taught at the Venice School of Architecture and at the Milan School of Architecture from 1964 to 1967.  During that period, she designed the interiors for Zanotta, there creation one of her most famous pieces, including the “April” folding chair and the “Sanmarco” table.
In 1981 she was given the commission to re-do the 1900 Beaux Arts Gare d’Orsay train station which led her to the contracts to create the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, the restoration of the Palazzo Grassi and many other projects, the most recent one was the Museum of Asian Art in San Francisco.  She also planned six stores for Adrienne Vittadini.
She preached a return to “Lasting Values”.
Aulenti died in Milan on October 31, 2012.