Anty Pansera: Art Historian Turned Design Scholar Wins Compasso d'Oro Career Award

Anty Pansera (Milan, 1948) has been awarded the Compasso d'Oro ADI career prize. The jury praised her original perspective on design, rooted in her classical art history training. After graduating in 1971 with a thesis on the late 19th century, she taught at the ISA of Monza (now Liceo Artistico Nanni Valentini), where she encountered design through colleagues like AG Fronzoni and Alfonso Grassi. She later taught at the University of Palermo, Politecnico di Milano, Accademia di Brera, IULM, and served as president of ISIA Faenza from 2010 to 2016. Pansera authored key books including 'Atlante del design italiano 1940-1980' (1980, with Alfonso Grassi) and 'Il disegno del mobile italiano. Dal 1946 a oggi' (1990). She applies social art history (Arnold Hauser) to design, emphasizing contextualization and hands-on research. In 2001, she curated the 10th Biennale Donna on 'Donne e design' (titled 'Dal merletto alla motocicletta'), leading her to found the association D come design promoting female creativity. She notes that Italian design's post-WWII success stemmed from repurposing military materials like cocoon (used by Castiglioni brothers and Flos) and plexiglass from aviation. Pansera advises aspiring design writers to study history, as many today lack knowledge of how past constraints shaped objects.