Award Winners
The jury has selected three design projects, created by young designers, that stand out because of the message they embody, focusing not just on the formal incisiveness of their design but also their sustainable, communicative, interactive, and ludic element, essential for the lives of adults and children now and, hopefully, also in the future.
FIRST PRIZE – Cucina Leggera (Light Kitchen) by Stefano Carta Vasconcellos, Italy
Motivation: Ease of construction and assembly, compactness, and financial accessibility are the main characteristics of the Light Kitchen, leveraging the sort of design approach and vision that will continue to hold good for the future.
Product description: Cucina Leggera (Light Kitchen) is a kitchen unit that can be assembled through the interlocking of seven elements, without screws or hardware. It is part of the CelerFurniture collection.
SECOND PRIZE – Tink Things by Tink Things, Croatia
Motivation: This project sees children not as small adults, but quite simply as children. Tink Things caters to their specific playful and sensory needs, helping them grow happily and with awareness.
Product description: The design approach considers a wide spectrum of sensory needs while using therapeutic principles of sensory integration to design products that shape a comfortable and encouraging environment for all kids.
THIRD PRIZE – Soft Block by Yuri Himuro, Japan
Motivation: The Soft Block fabric modules encourage the interaction and creativity of the user, like an unfinished project open to infinite variations and possibilities. They also demonstrate the ability of the fabric to become a three-dimensional and modular element for decorating spaces simply and with a personal touch.
Product description: This is a new home decoration object like a block toy. They provide a new building experience that takes advantage of softness and allows you to twist and bend. You can enjoy how to grow them.
European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 Award – Savoa by Sakari Hartikainen, Finland
Motivation: Right from the word go, Savoa exudes a pleasing balance of ecological thinking and aesthetic feeling. It draws on the ancient traditions of Nordic and Oriental design, melding them and propelling them into the contemporary world in a mature and elegant approach.
Product description: Savoa is a delicately balancing side table that resonates with the ecological balance and mirrors the constant quest for harmony in our lives.
Banca Intesa San Paolo Award – Claro Mutarq, Mexico
Motivation: Claro harnesses the minimum to express the concept of sustainability to the maximum, thanks to its lightness, simplicity, ease of assembly and transport, and its inexpensiveness. It thus encapsulates all the basic tenets of sustainable design.
Product description: Claro is a weightless and flat-pack bookshelf. It provides more storage with less material, using traditional glue-less carpentry along with CNC manufacturing.
Photographs – Courtesy Salone del Mobile.Milano / Photos by findinGALILEO
Design Photo Story – Salone del Mobile.Milano Through the Years
Creative Furniture Inspired by Nature, Art, and Architecture
