Franca Helg (21 February 1920

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

– 4 June 1989 Milan) was an Italian designer and architect. She also had a career teaching at Istituto Universitario Architettura Venezia and Polytechnic of Milan. She collaborated with

Franco Albini Franco Albini (17 October 1905 – 1 November 1977) was an Italian Neo-Rationalist architect, designer and university instructor in design. A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Politecnico di Milano U ...

from 1945 through 1977.

Biography

Graduated from the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan () is the largest technical university in Italy, with about 42,000 students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and higher education courses in engineering, architecture and design. Founded in 186 ...

in 1945, Franca Helg was active both in the field of architectural planning and in industrial

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

, with important project interventions often in collaboration with

, with whom she was for long associated professionally, from 1951 until the death of Albini in 1977.Franca Helg
from Scienza A Due Voci, women in Italian science from the Settecento to the Novecento (

Università di Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

)Helg (hèlġ), Franca
''Enciclopedie on line'', from the site of the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani Subsequent to which she worked with Marco Albini and Antonio Piva. After having been assistant to the seat of architectural composition held by Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso first at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

(Iuav) and then at then at the

, there followed associate teaching in 1967, teaching the same discipline, in which she became tenured in 1984. Among her works, the Roman stores

La Rinascente (La) Rinascente (; ) is a collection of high-end stores with Italian and international brands in fashion, accessories, beauty, homeware, design and food. It operates eleven stores in Italy, including its general headquarters in Milan and two fla ...

, in Piazza Fiume, the Terme Luigi Zoja of

Salsomaggiore Salsomaggiore Terme (Parmigiano dialect, Salsese: ; Parmigiano dialect, Parmigiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Parma, in the region of Emilia-Romagna. Located at the foot of the Apennine Mountains, Apennines, its warm sal ...

, the Museo degli Eremitani in

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Awards

* 1964 Compasso d'Oro: Awarded to Franco Albini,

Bob Noorda Bob Noorda (July 15, 1927 – January 11, 2010) was a Dutch-born Italian graphic designer who lived and worked primarily in Milan from 1954 onwards. His works included design projects for major corporations and large-scale retail chains, publishing ...

, and Franca Helg for the signage, graphic design, and interior design of the Milan underground.

Works

* designed furniture and houseware for Poggi, Bonacina, and San Lorenzo * (with

) ** Restoration of the Burial Monument of Margherita di Lussemburgo ** Design of the interiors of the Museo del Tesoro della Cattedrale di San Lorenzo ** Furnishings of the Metropolitana di Milano ( Compasso d'oro prize 1964) **

Olivetti Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines. Headquartered in Ivrea, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, the company has been part of ...

store in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

** The neighborhood of Piccapietra in

Genova Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of Ge ...

** Completion of the Museo di Sant'Agostino, annexed to the Chiesa di Sant'Agostino in

(1956-1986) ** Casa Zambelli in

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

** Palazzo

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

(regional prize IN/ARCH for

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

1963L'architettura.) * Molino Dorino station of the Metropolitana di Milano (1980-1985) * Museo degli Eremitani in the convent complex annexed to the church by the same name (1982-1985) * designed furniture with and without

References

External links

Helg (hèlġ), Franca
''Enciclopedie on line'', from the site of the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani
Franca Helg
da Scienza A Due Voci, women in Italian science from the Settecento to the Novecento (

) * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Helg, Franca Italian designers 1989 deaths 1920 births Olivetti people Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Italian women architects Architects from Milan Polytechnic University of Milan alumni