Franca Helg

Franca Helg (1920-1989) has often been called the "Grand Dame of Italian Architecture". She was born in Milan to a family of Swiss origins after graduating from the Polytechnic, she had her first experience at the BBPR studio and then joined Franco Albini in 1951, already an established protagonist on the national scene at the time. Theirs was a fortunate and inseparable partnership, which lasted over 25 years until Albini's death in 1977. With an austere and rigorous temperament, Franca Helg not only dealt with the operational management of the studio and relations with clients, but also made a contribution artistic fundamental to the most important projects such as the Rinascente in Rome and Line 1 of the Milan Metro (which also earned her the victory of the Compasso d'Oro in 1964). After Albini's death, it was her turn to carry on the activities of the studio at the forefront, assisted by Marco Albini, Franco's son, and by Antonio Piva, their historical partner, leading him to specialize during the 1980s in the field of restorations and of museum exhibits. In parallel with her professional activity, she carried out an intense didactic activity, teaching first at the IUAV in Venice and then at the Polytechnic of Milan. His meticulous attention to detail, a primary characteristic of his practice and of her teachings, can also be found in her design projects, often co-signed with Franco Albini and produced today by companies such as Nemo, Bonacina 1889 and Olivari.