From the Embroidery to the Construction. Women in Design and Architecture: "Domus" 1928-1950

Women’s presence in architecture and design has been ignored for a very long time. However, thanks to specialised magazines, their visibility in the public eye began to advance, albeit with great difficulty, during the first half of the twentieth century and social conventions induced it to change only slowly immediately after the second post-war period. Founded by architect Gio Ponti in January 1928, the Domus magazine provided updated information on the ‘living culture’ at an international level. A close examination of articles published in 253 issues from the magazine’s foundation up to 1950 gives us a significant overview of how women’s design culture was recognised. The magazine’s international stance let the public know about some of the European women’s works abroad and, from the end of the Second World War, it started to publish works by USA women architects. Articles published in specialised magazines –and Domus is an exceptional representative– are an essential source for mapping women designers and their works as well as for studying their reception.