Porada International Design Award 2014

1st PRIZE PROFESSIONALS (€ 3,000): “Double loop” by Libero Rutilo
1st PRIZE STUDENTS (€ 2,000): “Weg” by Federica Eleonora Belli

Total prize money: € 10,000
Information and announcement on: www.porada.it

On 30 January, at Palazzo Natta, office of the Polo Territoriale di Como of the Politecnico di Milano, the winners of the PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2014 were announced. The competition was sponsored by Porada Arredi s.r.l. – a leading company in the production of furnishing accessories and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI – Associazione per il Disegno Industriale.

Six winners – 3 in the Professional category and three in the Student category – who were able to capture the spirit of the competition with innovative and original proposals on different types of mirror, which conveyed the values and identity of Porada, leading Italian designbrand.

These are the names of the winners who will share the the total prize pool of 10,000 euros and who stood out for their work of great quality among the 327 projects submitted to the selection board from around the world:

For the PROFESSIONAL category
1st Prize: Libero Rutilo (Canada), “Double loop”, total prize: €3,000

2nd Prize: Tommaso Gecchelin (Italy), “Gemma”, total prize € 2,000

3rd Prize: Ekaterina Shchetina (Russia), “Zen”, total prize € 1,000

For the STUDENT category
1st Prize: Federica Eleonora Belli (Politecnico di Milano), “Weg”, total prize € 2,000

2nd Prize: Kyle Dawney (Brunel University, Uxbridge), “Reflection of time”, total prize € 1,200

3rd Prize: Elisabetta Donati de Conti (Politecnico di Milano), “Spin”, total prize € 800

The challenge was to present unpublished projects aimed at enhancing the use of production technologies and manufacturing and finishing processes typical of solid wood work. They should also have taken into account conformity to specific functionality and ergonomic requirements, existing safety legislation, environmental and sustainable design requirements.

The winner of the competition for the Professional category was Double loop, a mirror holder composed of two “bands” of solid wood, the curvature of which is inspired by the harmonic forms of fabric and paper. The Canadian designer, Libero Rutilo, created a product with seemingly simple aesthetic that actually hides a high degree of manufacturing complexity requiring considerable craftsmanship in the curvature of solid wood to make it fluid and light like fabric.

On the other hand, an Italian was the winner in the Student category: Federica Eleonora Belli, a student at the Como branch of Politecnico di Milano, was awarded the first prize in the category with Weg, a mirror holder with an oval shape, incorporating a container and a removable leather tray, recalling the lines of an egg and marsupial pouches, evoking, according to the designer, the ability of nature to create, reproduce and protect.

The jury, composed of academics and industry experts such as Arturo Dell’Acqua Bellavitis (Dean of the School of Design – Politecnico di Milan), Roberto de Paolis (Professor of Design – Politecnico di Milano), Ambrogio Rossari (President ADI Lombardia – Association for Industrial Design), Bruno Allievi (CEO Porada Arredi srl), Tiziano Allievi (Porada Arredi srl Associate), Vera Monakhova (Deputy Director “Elle Decoration” Russia), Jean Wee (Founder and Buyer for Nobel Design Group – Singapore), Luca Dini (Director of “Vanity Fair” Italy) and Alexis Elias (Elias Elias Architects – Miami), expressed great satisfaction with the success achieved in this edition of the competition, both in terms of participants and the quality of projects presented.

In evaluating the designs submitted, the jury took into account their originality, the degree of innovation and search for new design solutions related to typical machining of solid wood, experimentation on materials and surface finishes, the ability of the projects to define and anticipate scenarios of use and innovative concepst in the use of wooden furniture and contemporary furniture, with special reference to typological, technological and morphological decisions.

In the Professional category, special mentions went to Miralago by Davide Anzalone (Italy), Flipside by Giulia D’Aprile (Italy) and Voilà by Simone Alberto Gerbino (Italy) and, in the Student category, to Arash Abbaszadeh (Iran) of the Islamic Azad University of Bandar Abbas, Kalì by Carlo Bianchi (Italy), student of the Como Campus of the Politecnico di Milano, Deep wood by Sarah Dominguez (Dominican Republic) and Joint by Denise Lucente (Italy), both students of the Politecnico di Milano.

More details are available here

The MIRROR is the theme of this year’s competition

International Design Competition to identify innovative creative solutions for different types of mirror in which the use of wood is prevalent, sponsored by PORADA FURNITURE Ltd and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.

Porada Furniture Ltd, a leading company in the production of furnishing accessories and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design, launch PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2014 the new edition of the international competition which this year has the “mirror” as its theme.

The new announcement was made as part of Design Week which just ended, during the award ceremony for the winning projects of the second edition of the competition held at the Sala Gamma at the Rho-Fiera Salone Internazionale del Mobile. An edition that garnered 379 applications from all over the world (Italy, Iran, Israel, Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, India and Japan are among the countries that took part) and which saw six projects that stood out for their quality winning awards. The competition for the Professional category was won by “Lope” presented by Regina Antonopoulou and Stylianos Axiotakis. An Italian, however, won the Students category: Mattia Fossati was awarded first prize in this category with “Ics. Convertible side table”.

Projects for the 2014 competition are to be submitted by 30 November 2014. They must be original, unpublished and aimed at enhancing the use of technology and production and finishing processes typically used for working with solid wood. The wood may be combined with metal, glass and other materials. The projects should also take into account compliance with specific functionality, existing legislation on safety and ergonomic, environmental and sustainable design.

Porada International Design Award 2014
International Design Competition for Italian and foreign designers and creative professionals.
Promoted by PORADA FURNITURE Ltd and POLI.design, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.
Project delivery deadline: November 30, 2014
Total prize money: 10,000 Euros
Announcement and application details on: www.porada.it