A meeting of culture and design has given rise to a collaboration that brings together two institutions of excellence: the Musée d’Orsay and Martinelli Luce have chosen to join forces to celebrate, together, the 40th anniversary of the Parisian museum’s opening. This collaboration has resulted in a new interpretation of the Pipistrello lamp, a historic design created in 1965 by Gae Aulenti, a figure who is deeply connected to both institutions.
The Musée d’Orsay represents one of the most significant examples of architectural conversion in the 20th century. The building, originally the Gare d’Orsay, was gradually abandoned as the railway system evolved and new train standards were introduced, before finding a new identity as a museum dedicated to art from the second half of the 19th century. In the 1980s, the conversion project was entrusted to the ACT group, with Gae Aulenti herself overseeing the interiors. Her design successfully reinterpreted the original structure, transforming it into an exhibition space capable of showcasing the artworks and creating a coherent and immersive visitor experience.
The connection between Aulenti and Martinelli Luce dates back to the 1960s, when the designer created the Pipistrello for the Olivetti showroom in Paris. Manufactured by the Italian company, the lamp has established itself over time as a design icon, thanks to innovative technical solutions such as the telescopic system and the use of methacrylate. Initially considered too avant-garde, after a few years it won over the public, becoming one of the brand’s best-known products.
The collaboration between the museum and Martinelli Luce has now resulted in a special edition of the Pipistrello, conceived as a synthesis of architecture and design. The new colour finish is inspired by a detail from the interiors of the Musée d’Orsay, reinterpreted to create an object that captures and conveys the atmosphere of the place. This is not merely an aesthetic variation, but a genuine tribute to Gae Aulenti’s design vision, capable of moving seamlessly between the architectural scale and the domestic object.
To make this dialogue even more explicit, the logos of the Musée d’Orsay and Martinelli Luce are engraved on the lamp’s cone, symbolically sealing the meeting between the two institutions.
Available in three sizes, this edition of the Pipistrello demonstrates how the interplay between different disciplines and skills can give rise to new meanings. In this case, light once again serves as the central theme, linking past and present, space and object.
ph. Francis Amiand for Martinelli Luce
