Data is always a "fragment of a story" says information designer Giorgia Lupi

Pentagram partner and Dezeen Awards 2025 judge Giorgia Lupi talks to Dezeen about how she uses storytelling to uncover the personal, emotional and cultural layers behind the data.

Lupi, who initially studied architecture in Italy, focuses her practice on information and mapping systems and how they represent "complex narratives within urban and architectural contexts."

Her work has explored design, data and "what it means to communicate," specialising in story-driven data visualisations.

A common misconception that Lupi often grapples with is that data is objective or complete.

"It's always a fragment of a story — filtered, shaped and often incomplete," she said.

"Understanding the human choices behind it is as important as understanding the numbers themselves."

Big numbers and infographics, however, are overrated according to the designer, who strives to challenge conventional data visualisation.

"They often oversimplify complex subjects and feel more decorative than explanatory," she said.

With Dezeen Awards judging underway, Lupi is amongst the 60-strong industry leaders who are currently evaluating this year's entries.

In keeping with her human-centric approach, Lupi is on the lookout for work that "resonates on a human level."

Read on for five projects that best represent Lupi's work:

Dear Data, Princeton Architectural Press, 2016

"A year-long project where I exchanged hand-drawn postcards weekly with designer Stefanie Posavec, each visualising personal data from our daily lives. This analogue approach emphasised the personal and human aspects of data, challenging the notion that data is purely digital or impersonal.

"Dear Data remains [my] most important [project], it was a personal and professional turning point. It changed how I think about design, data, relationships, and what it means to communicate."

Plastic Air, Google Arts & Culture, 2021

"An interactive experience that visualises the presence of microplastics in the air around us. The project educates viewers about the environmental impact of their behaviours by presenting this invisible pollution in an engaging and visually compelling way.

"The design mirrors the allure of plastic itself – shiny and attractive – prompting reflection on the duality of its appeal and harm."

Mindworks: The Science of Thinking, 2021

"An immersive exhibition for the Center for Decision Research in Chicago, designed to engage the public in the mechanisms of their own minds.

"By transforming behavioural science research into interactive installations, visitors can experience and understand cognitive biases and decision-making processes firsthand. This project shows how design can make complex scientific concepts accessible and experiential."

Moleskine Foundation – Book of Life, Moleskine Foundation, 2021

"An artist's book created for the Moleskine Foundation's collection, where I documented my life through data-driven embroidery. Each stitch represents a day of my life, with colours denoting significant events, weaving a tangible narrative of personal history."

1-374: My Life with Long Covid, The New York Times, 2023

"A visual narrative published in The New York Times that chronicles my four-year experience with Long Covid. With the piece, I aimed to shed light on the often invisible struggles of chronic illness by visualising the pace of my daily symptoms and struggles, and opening it up to the Long Covid community through a broader data collection at the end.

"This project culminated in a TED talk titled "What Long Covid Taught Me About Life (and Data)," where I talked about the data of my recovery, and what the data we choose to look at can teach us."

Longlists announced in September

The Dezeen Awards longlists will be announced on Dezeen in early September. Each longlisted entry gets its own page on the Dezeen Awards website, which is viewed two million times a year! See last year's longlists here.

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Dezeen Awards 2025 in partnership with Bentley

Dezeen Awards is the ultimate accolade for architects and designers across the globe. The eighth edition of the annual awards programme is in partnership with Bentley as part of a wider collaboration to inspire, support and champion design excellence and showcase innovation that creates a better and more sustainable world. This ambition complements Bentley's architecture and design business initiatives, including the Bentley Home range of furnishings and real estate projects around the world.

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