The female voices of design

A necessary journey through forgotten stories and new perspectives that question the presence — and absence — of women in the world of design. For decades, the narrative of design has been written almost exclusively in masculine terms, but today a growing number of books, exhibitions, and research projects are bringing back the voices that had been pushed to the margins. What emerges is a collective story made of individual talents and shared struggles, of quiet achievements and new awareness. From the pioneers of the Bauhaus to contemporary designers, from the forgotten figures of the early Biennales and Triennales to today’s leading voices in visual communication and interior design, we have selected six books that offer an original map of women’s contributions to design — while also raising questions about representation, equity, language, and the power of images.
 

How Many Women Are in the Room?
Curated by Cinzia Ferrara, Laura Moretti, Carla Palladino
The Printing Office, coedition with AIAP

How Many Women Are in the Room? is a symbolic question and an invitation to remain vigilant about female representation – both in design and beyond. This volume documents the fifth edition of AWDA, Aiap Women in Design Award, the prestigious international biennial prize dedicated to women designers in visual communication. The title gathers the selected and awarded projects, offering a broad and nuanced overview of innovative languages and is completed by essays from international activists, designers, scholars, and researchers who reflect on issues related to women’s labor, gender equity, and cultural and social disparities.

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Making Space: Interior Design by Women
Jane Hall - Phaidon

The history of women’s involvement in interior design is rich and varied. It is a discipline where women enjoy an equal standing with their male counterparts, yet it is typically framed as a design practice especially suited to women, secondary to the heroic role of architect or furniture designer. The volume shines a light on the diverse and influential work of 250 women who design interiors – well-known, unsung, and emerging – representing myriad styles, from flamboyant maximalism to artfully arranged minimalism. Beautifully designed and illustrated with hundreds of striking photographs, Making Space will inspire anyone who cares about the spaces within which they live.

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Storie di donne al Bauhaus
Anna Aurora Lombardi – Franco Angeli

The Hochschule für Gestaltung, better known as Bauhaus, hosted almost 1,500 students, about a third of whom were women. Some were already professionals when they enrolled, many completed their studies and became established professionals, others disappeared from the art scene to return to private life, many had to flee with the advent of the Nazis, and quite a few died in concentration camps.
This book tells the stories of these women who, against everything and everyone, managed to realize their dreams of art, architecture, and design.

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PINK. Donne del progetto grafico italiano. 
Dalle origini alla contemporaneità.
A cura di Francesco E. Guida, con Lorenzo Grazzani – AIAP Edizioni

PINK presents the figures and contributions of over 40 female graphic designers active in Italy from the 1940s up to present day. A period of significant societal change in Italy, marked by an economic boom and the emergence of new customs. PINK highlights the contribution of women to the evolution and development of the profession and Italian visual culture; and, on a wider scale, how little recognition their work has received in the creation of iconic images, which in some cases have entered the collective imagination of millions of people.

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Athena – Le presenze femminili alle Biennali\Triennali di Monza\Milano 1923-1940
Anty Pansera e Mariateresa Chirico – Nomos Edizioni

Between 1923 and 1940, the Villa Reale in Monza and the Triennale in Milan hosted a series of exhibitions that contained the first seeds of the “design” that would establish itself in the post-war period. Athena accompanies the reader through the rooms of those exhibitions, focusing on the women who contributed as painters, sculptors, and architects, as well as on schools, private institutions, and companies that were committed to promoting their role, often led by visionary women themselves. Research in the exhibition catalogs has made it possible to compile an important collection of biographies of people, schools, and institutions, revealing the surprising stories that these women have left behind.

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Let’s Talk(s)
Letizia Bollini – AIAP Edizioni

Let’s Talk(s) is an invitation to engage in dialogue on gender and inclusion within the fields of design culture and art, moving beyond the concept of equality towards that of equity – acknowledging diverse starting points and actively working to overcome systemic disparities. The book invites readers to engage in an open and ongoing conversation about these urgent and sensitive issues. Through a collection of essays (Letizia Bollini, Nitzan Cohen, Eva Leitolf, Valeria Bucchetti, Patrizia Marti, Francesco E. Guida and Vera Gheno) the volume addresses critical issues for both academic education and professional practice.

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