Francesca Balena Arista is an architect, a PhD in industrial design, and a member of the Italian Association of Design Historians. She teaches at the Politecnico di Milano’s School of Design, and at NABA (Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti) in Milan.
Her monograph Poltronova Backstage: Archizoom Sottsass and Superstudio. The Radical Era 1962-1972, was published by Fortino Editions Miami.
She has worked on exhibitions and research projects with major institutions including the Museo del Design at the Triennale di Milano, the CSAC (Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione) at the University of Parma, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
She was part of the research group for the Ettore Sottsass. Oltre il design exhibition at CSAC in Parma, of the curatorial team for the tenth edition of the Triennale Design Museum di Milano, and was a curatorial assistant for the Neo Preistoria: 100 verbi exhibition curated by Andrea Branzi and Kenya Hara for the twenty-first Triennale di Milano International Exhibition.
She curated the Superarchitecture Reloaded exhibition at the Third Villa Noailles International Design Festival.
She has worked with magazines Domus, Abitare, Interni, Icon Design, Apartamento Magazine, and MacGuffin Magazine.
Her monographs and writings have appeared in Italy and internationally for Il Sole 24 Ore, Treccani, Electa, Corraini, Quodlibet, Silvana Editoriale, Del Monico-Prestel, Fortino Editions Miami, Éditions du Centre Pompidou, Éditions Gallimard, and Skira France.
