Lina Bo Bardi is best known for her iconic buildings in Brazil. Yet it is a surprising collection of furniture pieces—which form the basis of Lina Bo Bardi’s Brazilian career—that is showcased in the exhibition *Lina Bo Bardi Giancarlo Palanti, Studio d’Arte Palma 1948–1951*, which, after Milan and New York, is now on display at the Design Museum Gent.

In October 1946, newlyweds Lina Bo Bardi and Pietro Maria Bardi left a war-torn Italy and set off on a journey from Naples to Rio de Janeiro. As travelling companions, they took two large trunks filled with paintings, furniture, books and art objects. The import and exhibition of Italian art and design gained momentum in Brazil, and the Bardis’ Studio d’Arte Palma gallery soon established itself in the city of São Paulo, which was then experiencing rapid economic growth.