Antonia Astori, Gae Aulenti, Cini Boeri, Maddalena De Padova and Nanda Vigo. These are the five designers, the five “female protagonists of Italian design” to whom T Style, the New York Times monthly magazine, has dedicated an extensive piece in its October issue, with portraits taken by photographer Ruven Afanador and a long article by Alessandro Mendini and Christine Muhlke.

“Together they are responsible for some of the most fascinating objects and interiors of current times, and they testify to a refined female presence in the Italian atelier. Are they five little lambs grazing on the same grass as our great masters, the ‘sacred monsters’? I really don’t think so. They are strong, aggressive masters in their own right”, writes Mendini for T Style.

Antonia Astori (Driade’s founder and muse), Gae Aulenti (who designed the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and Palazzo Grassi in Venice), Maddalena De Padova (who for fifty years has been heading the furniture showroom that carries her name), Cini Boeri (who is currently transforming a 15th century building in Milan, designing a sofa for Knoll and a lamp for Lucesco) and finally Nanda Vigo (outsider and light artist who has worked with amongst others, Gio Ponti) are a testimony of the best in Italian design.

As from today (and until 20 October) the portraits of the five ‘divas’ of Italian design, as the article defines them as, will be on show at the De Padova showroom in Milan.

Until 20.10.2006
Divas
Showroom De Padova
corso Venezia 14, Milano
https://www.depadova.it

To read the article published on T Style:
https://www.nytimes.com/pages/style/t/