Go furniture shopping and you are likely to look for style, color, price, and other objective characteristics. Considerably, there is a great deal planning that goes into that sofa than just cushions and upholstery. Someone brainstormed, designed, and created your living room chairs. Another person dedicated their studies and career to create and develop the graphics pattern on your wallpaper.

Some of the best things about furniture design are the creative, dedicated minds behind it. Take a look at these five notable women and the significance behind their work:

Lina Bo Bardi – an Italian-born architect made a critical contribution to mid-century furniture design. Bardi’s Bowl Chairs can be purchased today from the furniture dealer Arper.

  • Bardi’s Bowl Chair: Two originals exist and are kept in her former residence, the CASA de Vidro (Glass House). These chairs, like much of her work, are premised on human interaction. Their bowl-like shape indicates the normalization of more relaxed posture – and attitude – in the 1950s. Bardi’s Bowl Chairs can be purchased today from the furniture dealer Arper.
1951 Lina Bo Bardi Bardi’s Bowl Chair, image by Aleskcap

Gae Aulenti – another Italian architect who was most famous for her renovation of the Beaux Arts Gear D’Orsay, Paris train station into the Musée D’Orsay in 1986.

  • Coffee table with wheels: This exhibit of Aulenti’s work is presently housed in the Museum of Modern Art located in New York City. Take a look at the piece on the museum’s website.
  • Other disciplines: She had an impressive resume of renovations of all sorts of constructions, interior design work, and even lighting for several opera houses.
Gae Aulenti “Tavolo con Ruote” coffee table, photo by Fontana

Cini Boeri – a Milanese mid-century furniture designer.

  • Knoll chairs and sofas: Boeri designed showrooms for Knoll in the 1970s. Most people associated her with Knoll and did not realize that she was an educated architect. You can still buy her furniture from Knoll today.
  • An educated woman: Like the two previously mentioned designers, she received a formal education in architecture during the postwar years. Her main focus is local and interior architecture as well as industrial design.

Nanna Ditzel – a Danish designer whose success continues today through the design studio run by her daughter Dennie.

  • Modern furniture design: Nanna Ditzel and her first husband, Jørgen, designed in many disciplines including furniture, textiles, wallpaper, jewelry, and utilitarian objects such as glass. Later on, she became notable for her fiberglass furniture designs as well.
  • The legacy: In 1995 Nanna’s eldest daughter, Dennie, took over the society after her mother passed away. The design studio is still in business to this day.
Furniture by Verner Panton and Nanna Ditzel, photo by Hansjorn

Kazuyo Sejima – a Japanese designer who is still influencing modern furniture.

  • “Platforms”: These small-scale constructions are buildings designed by Kazuyo Sejima that display her rigorous definition using glass, aluminum, metal mesh, and sculpture. Find out her creations and find out more about her background here.
  • Competitor: Like the women listed above, Kazuyo Sejima entered many contests and won several as well. She was a finalist at the IIT Student Center in Chicago and also at the Center for Contemporary Art in Rome. She won first place in competitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney (1997) and at the Stadstheater in the Netherlands (1998).