Women’s day: design icons designed by women

8 March 2021

The delicate but decisive feminine touch characterizes these 8 projects that we have chosen to tell the impact of women on the world of design. From these 8 women and these 8 creations – which have all become iconic – as many evolutions in aesthetic taste and in the approach to the project have been born. Very different from each other, they are nevertheless united by simplicity, the essentiality of the functions and the profound elegance. And they are in fact successful projects, which have spread a lot and continue to be the privileged and immediate choice in every renovation. These designers – and like them many others – have been able to establish themselves in design and in its market with punctuality and precision, determination and love. Characteristics that recur in their professional lives and in the projects that we describe below.

Relax Collection by Florence Knoll for Knoll

This female design review opens with Florence Knoll who has significantly influenced modern design both as a designer and as an entrepreneur. Her Relax collection (on the cover) which includes sofa, armchair and upholstered bench embodies the traits of American modernism and gently declines it, giving life to elements with clean and perfect lines in any context. The exposed metal frame and feet are a sign of modernity that softens and becomes welcoming thanks to the stitched seats and backrest, but also available plain for a more minimal style.

Moon System by Zaha Hadid for B&B Italia

Zaha Hadid was probably the greatest formal experimenter of recent decades and has brought about a real revolution in both architecture and design, pushing design to the extreme and daring without limits. It is the reason why she has been often criticized but it is also the reason why she is celebrated all over the world by becoming an icon herself. The Moon system is an example of her approach to the project: an understatement to call it a sofa, it is an enveloping sculpture that seems to have landed on Earth from another planet.

Tropicalia by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso

A tropical party turned into a collection that has established its fame all over the world: Tropicalia is one of the most pop projects by Patricia Urquiola, one of the most successful women in design and the bearer of a breath of color and creativity in this sector. The collection recovers wicker chairs from the past and brings them back to life with an injection of graphics and color.

Tour and Tavolo con ruote by Gae Aulenti for FontanaArte

Gae Aulenti was a very successful architect and also in the design she left her mark, especially with her Tour tables and Table with wheels in which she played with combinations. The crystal matches the bicycle wheels in Tour and the industrial trolley wheels in the Tavolo con ruote: a lesson in creativity and how to express it by decontextualizing an object and giving it new life.

Brass by Paola Navone for Gervasoni

Paola Navone is one of the greatest personalities of Italian design in the world: her creativity expresses a lively elegance and total confidence in the use of color and shapes. Brass is an extremely versatile suspension lamp in matt brass, a charm for the eyes perfect in various contexts.

Caboche by Eliana Gerotto and Patricia Urquiola for Foscarini

Versatile designer, also creator of jewels, Eliana Gerotto has designed the Caboche lamp together with Patricia Urquiola, recurrent in private and public spaces all over the world. Glamour, bright, elegant, it is perfect in all its forms: suspension, table, wall, floor.

Vertigo by Constance Guisset for Petite Friture

Constance Guisset designed this lamp at the age of 28, when she was still a student. She did not imagine the enormous spread that she would have all over the world, from private homes to contract contexts. Its movement, and its lines are hypnotic and in its essentiality it has become an icon of today.

Potence by Charlotte Perriand for Nemo

The arm lamp is a type of great trend right now and Charlotte Perriand’s Potence is certainly the most iconic of its kind. Inspired by the boom of sailing boats, it is essential and lean and for this reason it is full of style and character.

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