Franca Helg (21 February 1920 – 4 June 1989) was an Italian designer and architect. She also had a career teaching at Istituto Universitario Architettura Venezia and the 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. Education and career A native of Robbiate, near Milan, Albini obtained his degree in architecture at Po ...

from 1945 through 1977.

Biography

Graduated from the

Politecnico di Milano The Polytechnic University of Milan (, abbreviated as PoliMi) is a university in Milan, Italy. It is the largest technical university in the country, with about 40,000 enrolled students. The university offers undergraduate, graduate, and higher ...

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

design A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...

, 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)Helg (hèlġ), Franca
''Enciclopedie on line'', from the site of the Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani After 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 ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(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 ; ) is a high-end Italian department store chain that operates nine stores in Italy, including two flagship locations in Milan ( Piazza del Duomo) and Rome (Via del Tritone). The company was a member of the International Association of Depar ...

, in Piazza Fiume, the Terme Luigi Zoja of Salsomaggiore, the Museo degli Eremitani in

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

Awards

* 1964

Compasso d'Oro The Compasso d'Oro (; ) is an industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by the La Rinascente, a Milanese department store, the award has been organised and managed by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI ...

: 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, publishi ...

, 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 The Compasso d'Oro (; ) is an industrial design award originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by the La Rinascente, a Milanese department store, the award has been organised and managed by the Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI ...

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 owned b ...

store in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

** The neighborhood of Piccapietra in

Genova Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitants ...

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

(1956–1986) ** Casa Zambelli in

Forlì Forlì ( ; ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is, together with Cesena, the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena.The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the east of the Montone river, ...

** Palazzo

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

(regional prize IN/ARCH for

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

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 ( Università di Bologna) * * * {{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 Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Milan Academic staff of the Università Iuav di Venezia