Italian architect and designer. Best known as designer of the Orsay Museum in Paris. Graduated in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Milan, her career is divided between the university teaching and the design and restructuring of important works, including the “National Museum of Catalan art” in Barcelona, the “Scuderie del Quirinale” in Rome, the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 92 in Sevilla, the National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the renovation of Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the design of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, the Italian Institute of Culture in Tokyo and the airport San Francesco di Assisi in Perugia. Considered an architect of international renown, from 1974 to 1979, she was a member of the Steering Committee of the magazine “Lotus International”, and from 1976 to 1978 collaborated with the Laboratorio di Progettazione Teatrale in Prato, Tuscany. In 1984, Gae Aulenti was appointed correspondent of the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome, while from 1995 to 1996 was president of the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera. She has been honored with numerous prestigious awards, including the Gold Medal for meritorious of Culture and Art, and the career award assigned by the Triennale di Milano. Gae Aulenti is dead after a long illness at her home in Brera neighborhood. (bio by: Lucy Caldarelli)