Franco Albini (1905-1977) & Franca Helg (1920-1989) Biography
Franco Albini (1905-1977) and Franca Helg (1920-1989) began their collaboration in 1952. The studio, active since 1930 and of which the architects Antonio Piva since 1963 and Marco Albini since 1965 have also been partners, deals with architecture , urban planning and design. During the 25 years of collaboration, numerous projects followed one another, including urban planning and architectural interventions. Among the most significant examples, we can mention the La Rinascente department store in Rome (1957-1960), the new Luigi Zoja spa in Salsomaggiore (1964-1970) and the SNAM building in San Donato Milanese (1969-1972). Furthermore, several restorations have been carried out, such as that of the tomb monument of Margaret of Luxembourg in Palazzo Bianco (1956-1986) and those of Palazzo Rosso (1952-1962) in Genoa; of the Fossati block (1974-1980) in Milan and the renovation of the Sant'Agostino complex (1963-1979) also in Genoa. They also oversaw the design of museum displays, such as that of the new Pinacoteca del Castello Sforzesco (1972-1980) in Milan and the cloister and civic museum of the Eremitani in Padua (1969-1986). They also worked for the MM1 red line metro in Milan (1963-1964), with which Franca Helg and Franco Albini won the Compasso d'Oro award together with Bob Noorda. They later created the project for the Molino Dorino station of the same Metro (1980-1985), without forgetting the furnishings of the Olivetti store in Paris (1958-1960), to name just a few. Starting from the 1960s, Antonio Piva and Marco Albini became an integral part of the Albini-Helg studio, sharing responsibility for the projects. In the field of design, they have collaborated with San Lorenzo since 1970.
