Paola Antonelli
Paola Antonelli was born in 1963 in Sardinia and studied architecture at the Polytechnic in Milan. Before becoming a curator at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 1994, she taught design theory and history at the University of California in L.A. In 2007, she became senior curator for the areas of design and architecture at MoMA.
As senior curator at MoMA, she caused a sensation virtually from the very beginning, with exhibitions such as »Thresholds: Contemporary Design from the Netherlands« (1996), »Humble Masterpieces« (2004) or »Design and the Elastic Mind« (2008), which staged everyday products as if they were exhibits in a museum.
As curator of the recent XXII Triennale di Milano, which drew attention to the need for sustainable design under the title of »Broken Nature«, Antonelli demonstrated how design is important more than ever today.
Jury Statement
Paola Antonelli zeigt als Kuratorin und Autorin eindrucksvoll, wie Design unsere Kultur und Gesellschaft formt – und warum es weit mehr ist als reine Ästhetik. Mit ihrer Arbeit sensibilisiert sie nicht nur die Designwelt, sondern auch Konsument*innen für die Verantwortung, die mit Gestaltung einhergeht.
Whether as a curator, editor or author - Paola Antonelli makes it clear that design not only combines function and form, but also has a deep impact on our identity and the reality of life. For her visionary work and her tireless commitment to making design visible as a cultural force, the jury of the German Design Awards 2021 honours Paola Antonelli with the title Personality of the Year.
