Since she stepped back from practicing architecture in order to focus on writing about design, teaching and curating gallery exhibitions, Italian native Paola Antonelli has become a force to be reckoned with in the design world. Working at The Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1994, she is senior curator of Architecture and Design and, as of 2012, the museum's first ever director of research and development. She has worked on shows such as "Humble Masterpieces," which celebrated traditionally unheralded design icons such as the paperclip; "Design and the Elastic Mind," considering the relationship between design and science; "Talk to Me," which looked at design and the communication of people and objects; "Items: Is Fashion Modern?" which highlighted the 111 items of clothing that had a strong impact on the world in the past 120 years (including the hoodie); and "Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival", introducing the concept of "restorative design."

In 2010, Antonelli anointed the @ symbol into the Museum's permanent collection and, in 2012, she led a move to acquire 21 video games. Her goal is to insistently promote design’s understanding, until its positive influence on the world is fully acknowledged.

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