Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn on the Hidden Heroines of Design

Design has always been a man’s world. A white cis-man’s world to be precise. Thankfully, there have always been gifted and inspiring exceptions who have overcome the obstacles to make important contributions to design. This episode of the Design Emergency podcast celebrates some of the incredible women who have done so, as our co-founders, Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn pay tribute to the Hidden Heroines of Design.

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In this episode you’ll hear the stories of seven exceptionally talented and determined women whose courage, skills and resilience enabled them to defy gender bias by developing remarkable design innovations that have changed millions of people's lives for the better. Among them are Letitia Mumford Geer, a US nurse who patented the design of the one-handed medical syringe in 1896, and Ann Macbeth, a British embroiderer who empowered working class women to use needlework to learn new skills and forms of self-expression in the early 1900s.

Others include Colette Boccara, one of the most prolific industrial designers in late 20th century Brazil, and Yasmeen Lari, the first woman to practice architecture in Pakistan who has devoted the second half of her career to designing emergency housing and other forms of humanitarian support for the victims of floods and earthquakes. All of our Hidden Heroines of Design faced daunting challenges to achieve their goals, as have equally accomplished designers who are trans, queer, of colour or don’t conform to the white cis-male archetype for another reason. We hope you’ll enjoy hearing how they overcame them.

Thank you for listening. You’ll find images of the projects described in this episode - and the others - on our Instagram @design.emergency. Please join us for future episodes of Design Emergency when we will interview more remarkable design leaders who are helping to forge positive change in different fields and different parts of our planet.

Presented by Paola Antonelli and Alice Rawsthorn

Graphic design by Studio Frith

Recording by Spiritland Productions

Design Emergency is supported by a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

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