Stilnovo 

Founded in 1946 by Bruno Gatta, Stilnovo is a significant part of the first wave of post World War 2

Italian design companies specialising in the production of innovative, functional lighting.

At its most productive between 1950 and the late 80s, Stilnovo worked with a number of Italy’s leading  

designers, including Danilo and Corrado Aroldi, G...

Founded in 1946 by Bruno Gatta, Stilnovo is a significant part of the first wave of post World War 2

Italian design companies specialising in the production of innovative, functional lighting.

At its most productive between 1950 and the late 80s, Stilnovo worked with a number of Italy’s leading  

designers, including Danilo and Corrado Aroldi, Gaetano Sciolari, Alberto Fraser, Joe Colombo and Ettore

Sottsass. A contemporary of companies such as Fontana Arte and Arteluce, Stilnovo rose to prominence

on the back of Italian design’s move away from small family orientated businesses to forming companies

capable of producing industrialised, mass produced work. 

Coming at a time when the idea of function was combined with new types of materials to produce pared

and texturally novel forms, it was an era of experimentation, where the neo-realism movement tussled

with the philosophy of organicism, and where architects borrowed from, subverted and discarded the

artisan.