This is an abbreviated version of “In a Man’s World” — Women Industrial Designers by Pat Kirkham, Bard Graduate Center (2000). I usually write about Nordic designers but this thorough article outlines a US viewpoint on the multiethnic American pioneers. Women are rarely mentioned in histories of 20th-century industrial design, yet they played a significantContinue reading “Women Industrial Designers in the US”
Tag Archives: Finland
Valentina Modig-Manuel
Valentina Modig-Manuel, née Modig in 1936 (June 25, 1907, Minsk – June 22, 2005, Turku), was a ceramic artist who, together with her husband, founded Finland’s first independent ceramics studio. Modig-Manuel’s parents had moved to Minsk at the end of the 19th century, but the family returned to Finland before World War I and settledContinue reading “Valentina Modig-Manuel”
Greta-Lisa Jäderholm-Snellman
Greta Lisa Jäderholm-Snellman was born in 1894 in Helsinki and passed away in 1973 in Alicante, Spain. She was one of the first female ceramists in Finland and worked in many different materials throughout her career. Born to parents Herman Jäderholm and Hilma Nyberg, she matriculated from Nya Svenska Samskolan in 1912 and later studiedContinue reading “Greta-Lisa Jäderholm-Snellman”
Maija-Liisa Komulainen
Maija-Liisa Komulainen, known to her peers as Maikki, was born on 29 January 1922 in Kajaani, Finland. She graduated from the Institute of Crafts and Design in Helsinki in 1949 and opened her own practice in the city the following year, where she would remain for the next seventeen years. She came of age professionallyContinue reading “Maija-Liisa Komulainen”
Märta Blomstedt
Märta Blomstedt was an architect and one of the driving forces of the Finnish functionalism movement. She initially worked with her husband, the architect Pauli E. Blomstedt but she started a company and continues their projects with Matti Lampén after her husband’s death in 1935. She approached her projects holistically and designs all aspects ofContinue reading “Märta Blomstedt”
Maija Heikinheimo
Maija Heikinheimo (14 December 1908 – 8 January 1963) was one of the most significant Finnish interior designers of the twentieth century — and one of its most systematically overlooked. For over two decades she served as the creative backbone of Artek, the design company co-founded by Alvar Aalto, functioning as both artistic director and,Continue reading “Maija Heikinheimo”
Maire Gullichsen
Few have have had the same impact on design and the arts as Maire Gullichsen, born Ahlström in 1907 in Pori, Finland. Although she made few designs herself, her contributions through the renowned company Artek and personal patron initiatives greatly impacted the development of the Nordic design scene. Gullichsen was born into the Ahlström family,Continue reading “Maire Gullichsen”