Porada International Design Award 2020

1st PRIZE PROFESSIONAL (€ 3,000): ” Soothy” by Cornelius Comanns
1st PRIZE STUDENT (€ 2,000): “FIORDILATTE Chair” by Francesco Canali

Friday 10th December, at Villa del Grumello Greenhouse, Lake Como, the jury of the PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2020 have selected the winners of the competition, promoted by Porada Arredi srl, a leading company in the furniture accessories production industry, and POLI.design, Consortium Company founded by Politecnico di Milano, under the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.

There are six winners – three in the Professional category and three in the Student category – who were able to grasp the spirit of the competition by interpretating the distinctive values of a key brand for Italian design such as Porada and proposing a number of innovative and original projects with the Chair as their theme.

The total prize money of 10.000 € will be distributed as follows:

For the PROFESSIONAL category:
1st prize: € 3.000: Cornelius Comanns with “Soothy”
2nd prize: € 2.000: Marco Ferriani and Sara Sbolgi with “Ivy”
3rd prize: € 1.000: Kazuya Maie with “Flusso”

For the STUDENT category:
1st prize: € 2.000: Francesco Canali with “FIORDILATTE Chair”
2nd prize: €1.200: Karen Tsui con “Dipping Wafer”
3rd prize: € 800: Lucia Carnevalini with “Menfi”

Special mention:
Jingyong Huang with “Mei Chair”

They are all works of outstanding quality and innovation, which stood out to the judicial panel from the 344 projects submitted: 166 in the professional category and 178 in the students category. There were many submissions from Italy, but there was an equally positive international response: Taiwan, China, Russia, France, Turkey, Brazil, Japan, India, Serbia, Ukraine, Colombia, Spain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, United Kingdom, USA, are just some of the many nations involved.

“Soothy” by Cornelius Comanns won the competition for the Professional category. It combines the functions of a rocking chair and a crandle into one piece of furniture that can be used and enjoyed together by parent and child. The idea to this design was born when strong measures had to be taken to deal with COVID-19, due to which parents were forced to work from home and child care was not available. Soothy allows parents to work on the computer, do chores or just relax, while always keeping an eye on their children and keep them calm easily with rocking motions. The project might be a relatively free interpretation of the competition’s topic ‚chair‘ but provides real benefits and relief that go beyond simply sitting.

Francesco Canali, student of Nuove Tecnologie dell’Arte, Accademia di Brera, won the prize of the Students category with “FIORDILATTE Chair”. The project stems from the desire to create not only a solid and modern in the forms seat but also, and first of all, a relationship, an emotional medium, one of those objects that you associate with the domestic hearth, that can help you rest and caresses you when you come home. With its appearance of a sinuous and soft elastic, the solid wood becomes the trait d’union of the other two components, the backrest and the seat, which are born as two cushions in Memory Foam covered in fabric, chosen for its ability to recover and recompose in the original form when it is freed from the weight, reaffirming its identity of being alive, and not without a soul.

The jury was made up of Bruno Allievi (CEO Porada), Tiziano Allievi (Associate Porada), Vincenzo Castellana (Architect and Designer, ADI Board Member), Lena Cottray (Co-Design Director Lawson Robb Studio, London), Csaba dalla Zorza (Writer, Tv Personality, Director of Marie Claire Maison Italia), Roberto de Paolis (POLI.design), Anne Desnos (Director of Marie Claire Maison France), Iain Johnson (CEO Rigby & Rigby Studio, London), Patrick Jouin (Designer, Paris), Sima Ganoudi (Founder and Associate of Wood Work, Principauté de Monaco). To evaluate the works the jury considered their originality, the degree of innovation and pursuit of new design solutions related to the processes typically used for solid wood, experimentation with materials and surface finishes, the capacity of projects to define and anticipate scenarios of use and innovative concepts in the use of wooden furniture and contemporary furnishings.

Project delivery deadline: October 15, 2021

Total prize money: € 10.000

Regulations and application details on: www.porada.it, www.polidesign.net and www.porada-design-award.polidesign.net

Chairs will be the protagonists of the PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2020, the international competition of ideas promoted by Porada, leading brand of Italian design, and POLI.design, with the patronage of ADI, the Association for Industrial Design.

Innovation, originality and search of new design solutions for woodworking are the guidelines that will inspire designers who decide to participate and interpret the values ​​and identity of Porada, the leading brand of Italian design. Goal of this new edition that is open to Italian and foreign designers and creative people (individuals or groups), professionals or non-professionals, corporate employees and students.

The numbers of the competition have become important: 316 projects are presented to the jury in the latest edition dedicated to the creation of different types of sideboards and cupboards, of which 222 belonging to the professional category and 94 to the student category. Numerous adhesions from Italy, but equally positive the international response: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Turkey, Thailand, are just some of the nations involved. Six winners – three in the Professional category and three in the Student category – who have been able to grasp the spirit of the competition by proposing innovative and original projects will be awarded during the Design Week 2020.

“Frame”, designed by Niccolò Devetag, student of the degree course in Design & Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, won the competition launched in 2019 for the Students category. The winner in the Professional category was Apostolos Papadimitriou with the “Hackford” project, chosen by the jury because it was born from the search for a new entertainment unit, capable of hosting numerous devices that could accompany the TV in the near future, as a TV service, box, game console, Hub, Apple TV and stereo equipment.

Projects relating to the 2020 edition must be original and unpublished; they must enhance the use of production technologies and woodworking processes and typical finishing of the solid wood. The projects should also comply with specific functionality, with the current safety standards, with ergonomic characteristics, with both environmental and sustainable design characteristics.

Wood, whether in natural-finish, preferably in finishes prevalently used by the company, or painted, can be combined with metal, mirrors, crystals, leather, hides or fabric.

A jury composed of renowned experts in the field will judge and select the winning projects. In evaluating the entries, the judges will take into account: their originality, the degree of innovation and pursuit of new design solutions related to the processes typically used for solid wood, experimentation with materials and surface finishes, the capacity of projects to define and anticipate scenarios of use and innovative concepts in the use of wooden furniture and contemporary furnishings, with particular regard to typological, technological and morphological decisions.

The jury will choose three winners for each of the two categories (Students and Professionals) in the competition, who will receive their awards at a dedicated event.

The total prize money of € 10.000 will be allocated as follows:

PROFESSIONAL Category:

1st prize: € 3.000

2nd prize: € 2.000

3rd prize: € 1.000

STUDENT Category:

1st prize: € 2.000

2nd prize: € 1.200

3rd prize: € 800

The winning projects of the competition will also be prototyped and possibly produced by Porada at a later stage.

For more details on how to participate or to submit an application, designers and creative professionals, both Italian and foreign should consult the announcement on the site www.porada.it, www.polidesign.net and www.porada-design-award.polidesign.net.

Contacts:

Email: award@porada.it

Tel.: [+39]031.766215

Ufficio Comunicazione POLI.design: Chiara Gattuso

Mail: Comunicazione@POLIdesign.net

Tel. [+39] 02.23997201

www.polidesign.net

Ufficio Comunicazione Porada: Laura Allievi

Mail: laura@porada.it

Tel.: [+39]031.766215

www.porada.it