Now in its sixth year, the Milano Design Award has become one of the most anticipated moments of Milan Design Week.
Dedicated to the most interesting installations of the week, the award goes to a designer or team whose work combines design, performance, technology and entertainment.
The Milan Design Award selects the best projects / installations at Fuorisalone that add value to the creative dialogue between production and installation and between designers and companies
“A long journey spanning 50 years of innovation continues, to create designers that are able to see the future with an eye on the present whilst interpreting the changes and needs of society. Playing host to the awards ceremony of Milan Design Award symbolizes therefore, a unity of purpose based on the desire to further enhance the research of work and the boldness of creativity” …….. Emanuele Soldini, Director of the IED Milano
Previous Winners MDA were
Nonostante Marras by Marras + Segno Italiano in 2015
Delirious Home by ECAL in 2014
The Revolving Room by Moroso in 2013
Photosynthesis by Akihisa Hirata in 2012
Neoreal Wonder by Canon in 2011
Sponsors / Partners
The Milano Design Award – devised and coordinated by Elita – enjoy living italy, in collaboration with Fuorisalone.it and Istituto Europeo di Design, and the support of the Council of Milan – and has now become a shared and promoted project with the committee of Milano Fuorisalone and Design District partners: 5VIE art+design, Brera Design DIstrict , Elita – enjoy living italy, Milano Space Makers, Porta Venezia in Design, Sarpi Bridge_Oriental Design Week, Superstudio Group, Tortona Design Week, Ventura Lambrate and Zona SantAmbrogio.
2016 Jury
jury and scientific committee with Emiliano Ponzi, Kazuyo Komoda, Valentina Ventrelli, Paolo Ferrarini, Marco Sammicheli, Alberto Nespoli and John Dimatos.
The jury this year comprised –
Antonio Marras (fashion designer)
Alberto Nespoli (art director at Eligo), winner of Milano Design Award 2015
Caroline Corbetta (contemporary art curator)
John Dimatos (Senior Director for Design and Technologies at Kickstarter)
Kazuyo Komoda (Product/Interior designer)
Felice Limosani (digital storyteller)
Emiliano Ponzi (illustrator)
Marco Sammicheli (Abitare design curator)
jury visiting contenders
Participant Selection Process
The selection of the design participants of Milano Design Award 2016 was selected by a Scientific Committee, formed by representatives from Milan Fuorisalone committee, through all of the adherent plans to the design districts.
A public call for bids was available on the website www.milanodesignaward.com.
Nominations were open until Monday, 4th April 2016.
The winners were announced Sun 17th April during the awards ceremony that took place at Teatro di IED Moda, via Pompeo Leoni 3.
Categories
The exhibition that proposes the most innovative idea and delivers the most powerful value, envisioning future opportunities and meanings.
The exhibition that shows a cutting-edge technology or a creative use of existing one.
The best exhibition that clearly delivers its message, employing the most engaging storytelling and refined communication.
The exhibition that distinguishes itself bridging the audience and the concept, building an immersive relationship through the different aspects of the setup (place, sound, products etc.)
The exhibition that results the overall winner in the public vote through the Fuorisalone 2016 app.
Awards Ceremony
Milano Design Award 2016 – The Winners
The overall best exhibition of the Milano Design Week, selected for its excellent combination of concept, technology, storytelling and engagement valued by the jury.
Every winner received a “ Sleipnir Troll ” realized by Atelier Forte, which this year is a feature in the MDA logo.
Best in Fair 206 Winner
Shit Evolution – Luca Cipelletti
The first collection of products in “Merdacotta”, a sort of terracotta produced from dung and clay fired at high temperatures, arrives in Milan from Castelbosco.
With an exhibition design by Luca Cipelletti, the Shit Museum in Castelbosco in the province of Piacenza has come to Milan and by no coincidence to the renowned Società di Incoraggiamento Arti & Mestieri (SIAM), which has been combining technology, sustainability and innovation with the Italian cultural heritage and knowhow since 1838.
The museum has not only brought a selection of works from its collection (including ones by Blomqvist, Spoerri and Coda Zabetta) to Milan Design Week but also its first products: flower pots and vases, tableware and tiles – all made of “Merdacotta”, a material formed primarily of dried dung and (in a smaller percentage) clay, fired at high temperatures.
The Shit Museum’s products were inspired by a conversation between Luca Cipelletti and agricultural entrepreneur Gianantonio Locatelli, owner of Castelbosco and the ideological drive behind the Museum.
The “Museo della Merda” is leading to the Fuorisalone a new event, presenting floors, stools, tables, vases, plates, bowls and also a toilet, made starting from cow dung.
Event created by Luca Cipelletti, the Milanese architect responsible for the renovation of the medieval home of the Museum of Shit.
Jury Statement
For the story of a great complexity and innovation, able to destabilize the common perception.
The didactic course undermines all the academic stereotypes to propose relevant sensory experience that promotes a new vision of design culture.
BEST CONCEPT – Winner
The installation that best promotes the most significant innovation, demonstrating opportunity and significant future development
Boring Collection – Lensvelt Contract
The Boring collection is a spectacularly inconspicuous series of office furniture which discreet elegance allows it to be present in the modern office without distracting from the things that actually matter.
Jury Statement
For the ability to imagine a new narrative way to the office-product.
The project is a simple but effective conceptual innovation, which starts from a stereotype to turn it into a playful and engaging experience.
BEST STORY TELLING
The best installation that explains the actual message, adopting the most engaging and effective narrative strategy and a defined communication even graphic.
The Nature of Motion – Nike
The Nike design anticipates the potential of the human body through a synergy of form , function and movement.
The obsession for Nike Natural Motion persists and every innovation the gap between the product and the body decreases .
During the Salone del Mobile Milan 2016, ten contemporary and innovative designers have teamed up with Nike to explore the theme of Natural Motion through various means .
Some works are conceptual ( anticipating future technologies ) and other practical . In many cases, they have been used some of the unique materials of Nike , as the Flyknit .
Jury Statement
The project tells the brand identity so complex, structured but readable to anyone, at different levels.
Through a multiple and emotional storytelling installation clearly expresses the profound nature of the movement.
BEST TECHNOLOGY
The installation that best adopts technology, materials or that best proposes the use of an original existing one.
Data Orchestra – Jelle Mastenbroek
Influential companies collect data to trade. Indirectly personal details serve as a new sort of currency and are no longer personal.
Data Orchestra achieves the contrary with the same input; it rewards the right holder. With an intimate and personalized living room concert that enriches the identity
Jury Statement
For the project that unites and distilles poetic and technology capabilities, giving life to the classic domestic products.
A technology now available to everyone is synthesized the best to experience the surrealistic spirit and unique but extremely topical.
BEST ENGAGEMENT by ied
The best installation that distinguishes the bridge between the piece and the public, establishing an immersive rapport via the diverse aspects of the installation (location, sounds and lighting)
Imagine new days – Aisin
Imagine new Days is an installation that , from the origins of the company – offering a wide range of designer products : the various types of vehicle accessories to household items ( sewing machines , beds , etc. ) – show ‘ creative evolution underlying its production.
A sensory experience made of views on the symbiosis between nature , man and everyday life .
Imagine New Days is AISIN’s design project that considers the possible lifestyle changes in future generations.
Since its establishment, AISIN has leveraged the spirit of “monozukuri” (skilled manufacturing) it has acquired in developing home use sewing machines to various business fields from automotive parts to life and energy-related products.
This year, AISIN will use the sewing machine, which is considered one of the origins of AISIN’s technology, to propose “the fun of monozukuri” that brings to form people’s creativity and “a rich lifestyle that coexists in harmony with nature.”
Textile designer Masaru Suzuki creates a world using textiles that were embroidered as freely as drawing pictures by hand with the home-use sewing machine OEKAKI50.
The space composed of textiles decorated with the “o-ekaki” (or “drawing”) stitches offers visitors a feeling that they are strolling through a wavering natural setting.
Hideki Yoshimoto, a design engineer, uses cogs and light to create a bright, gentle space that conjures images of sunlight filtering through trees.
The cogs used as the motif for this piece is one of the essential parts for moving many products, from sewing machines to transmissions, which is a leading car part made by AISIN. Yoshimoto’s work expresses the vision and creativity of AISIN that supports the coexistence of people, nature, and motorized societies.
Jury Statement
For the ability to combine analog and digital, with simplicity and effectiveness, involving the audience in a small meaningful and fun trip.
The contrasts between the crossing places make the experience light and memorable.
2016 PEOPLE’S CHOICE by FUORISALONE.it
The best installation overall according the public jury, votes collected via the App of the Fuorisalone.it
Kukan – Panasonic
Panasonic has integrated technology of audio visual, air conditioning and lighting to create new possibilities and tap into undiscovered charm of space.
You can experience the effect inspired by Japanese spacial art culture in the high definition installation art environment.
Jury Statement
N/A as voted by the Public
Runners UpCommendations
The Restaurant – Tom Dixon (UK )
Known for presenting memorable, interactive installations in Milan, quartz manufacturer Caesarstone is collaborating with celebrated British designer Tom Dixon on a multi-sensory creation.
‘The RESTAURANT by Caesarstone & Tom Dixon‘ consists of four conceptual kitchens inspired by the elements – Earth, Fire, Water and Air.
These kitchens will take over Milan’s Rotonda della Besana during Milan design week.
Barovier & Toso
For FuoriSalone 2016, Barovier&Toso and Paola Navone will be together again for a visionary project that explores the many colors of glass in an imaginary voyage through different cultures and landscapes.
In the almost 1000 square meters of the Daylight space at Superstudio Più on Via Tortona, “travelers” will be welcomed to a village of six large yurts (each for a specific color), where magical, fascinating moods take form in an engaging, amazing experience.
Colors is a representation of the cosmos in all its aspects, a tribute to the virtues of glass and its evocative power: the visit to each yurt will be like entering a different corner of the world, penetrating its secrets and atmospheres. And there’s more: the installation will also be an homage to the flexibility of glass, an extraordinary material that influences and is influenced by the cultures with which it comes into contact and embodies them, adapting to every era, every custom, every fashion.
Alongside some of the most iconic creations of Barovier&Toso, custom pieces will be made, generated by the breakdown and reassembly of catalogue chandeliers reinterpreted and remixed in a new way with colors ranging from the most traditional to the least conventional.
Once again, the synergy between the Murano-based company and Paola Navone will be able to enchant us and transport us to faraway places of extraordinary beauty, as only the glass of Barovier&Toso is capable of doing.
Miele
Miele, makes its Tortona debut at Emporio 31 with ‘The Invisible Kitchen’, a project that tells the story of the kitchen in an experiential manner like it’s never been told before.
An inspiration that aims to provide a futuristic gaze on the behavioural changes in the kitchen and on the revolution that has swept across the entire cooking experience, raising creativity to a completely new level.
A sort of platform for the exchange of ideas and viewpoints and a source of new inspiration.
All this with one key objective in mind: limitlessly stimulate the generation of ideas and new perspectives.
From that first pang of hunger to the moment in which you taste that recipe you carefully prepared, the Invisible Kitchen reinvents our attitude to the art of cooking – always connected and with a collaborative approach.
Ten Secret Treasures ???
JCP is a new design approach that crosses realities, cultures, eras, without preclusions of aesthetic and ideological rules on which the essential paradigms of the world of furniture design was founded.
The ten creations will be the protagonists of Ten Secret Treasures, a voyage that guides the visitors to the discovery of the JCP universe.
An Encounter with Anticipation – Lexus
At Via Tortona 32, Lexus presents “An Encounter with Anticipation”, created and designed by Formafantasma
The exhibition concept is based on the theme of anticipation and transparency.
The event will lead the visitor to discover the essence of craftsmanship of the Japanese brand, observing how technology and the stylistic approach are translated into an experience which is both aesthetic and emotional: anticipating the dreams and social demands, the exhibition conveys the way Lexus imagines the future, giving the public new form able to surprize and amaze.
The star chef Yoji Tokuyoshi will express the theme of trasparency in a culinary experience.
Also this year the Lexus Design Award will be rewarding emerging talents in international design with a highly qualified jur, including Paola Antonelli, Director of the Research and Development department of the MoMA.
Back Ahead – Advantage Austria
It is the title chosen for this-year exhibition in which Austria takes part to the design week for the seventh consecutive time.
This year 60, among producers, traditional companies of great international success and young designers, representing the Austrian design and which have also earned the international scene and depict Austria as an avant-garde country
Location chosen for the exhibition, is Villa Necchi Campiglio, a famous architectural gem in the heart of Milan
Casa Vitra
CasaVitra exhibits the spatial installation ‘Colour Machine’, which is dedicated to the Vitra Colour & Material Library, presenting Hella Jongerius’ insights and inspirations about colours, textiles and materials. A lounge on the second level of CasaVitra is furnished with selected products from the Vitra Home Collection, providing an inviting space where visitors can linger and enjoy the atmosphere.
Do Out Design- Re.Rurban Studio
Do ut do, a name created by Alessandro Bergonzoni, is a biennial project which is now being proposed for the third time, promoted by the association Amici della Fondazione Hospice Seràgnoli whose aim it to gather funds for the Foundation.
This project includes a series of events devoted to arts and cultural excellences, that involve the participation of institutions, companies and collectors. The big shot of the 2016 event is Nobel Prize for literature winner Dario Fo.
This year Alessandro Mendini designed the do ut do home with rooms created by 12 different architects and designers who dedicated them to the value of dwelling
Inside the home you will find contemporary works of art and unique design pieces donated by architects, designers, artists, fashion designers to the Foundation that at the end will be subject to a draw.
Architect Michele De Lucchi stressed the value of the home: “I like to work to find out the meaning of things. Especially when you are dealing with the home. A place that we, architects and designers, seem to know very well, but that is constantly evolving. And actually we don’t realize it”.
Ladies and Gentleman
PS and Secondome reopen a historic home in Milan with a group of projects that dialogue with the historical memory of the places bringing to the ancient glories lights .
By glazed mosaics Cristina Celestino for Bottega Nine , the new cabinet on horseback French between the 70s and the future of Hervet Manufacturier , from marble lamps of the Lebanese designer Samer Alameen the collection of sofas designed by Giorgia Zanellato and covered with fabrics designed by Coralla Maiuri for Secondome , all the pieces show the love for the subject and the colors , the design intelligence and love of beauty .
Salone del Automobile – Lee Broom
London-based designer Lee Broom is presenting an installation — incorporating his latest lighting collection, Optical — in his studio’s delivery van. It will travel around Milan’s key design districts
2016 MDA Jury Members
Caroline Corbetta
Contemporary art curator
Caroline Corbetta (1972), born in Milan, is a curator, cultural journalist, art critic and consultant.
Her work focuses on the crossover between different cultural disciplines and the scouting of emerging talents.
While working with Italian art-stars like Maurizio Cattelan and Francesco Vezzoli, she continues to scout for new talent.
In 2012 she launched Il Crepaccio (The Crevasse), a not-conventional, non-profit exhibition space installed in the window of a Milanese trattoria, dedicated to emerging creativity.
Her goal is to stimulate the cross-pollination of different disciplines and to bring contemporary art to expand further the audience for contemporary art.
John Dimatos
Senior Director for Design at Kickstarter
John Dimatos is Senior Director for the Design and Technology categories at Kickstarter, working closely with projects and organizations that include Pebble Time and Maker Faire.
Previously he was Head of Applications at MakerBot Industries where he oversaw the launch of the original Replicator and the 3D photobooth.
John has developed a disaster simulation game for UNICEF, sold oriental rugs, and graduated from NYU’s ITP program in 2009.
Felice Limosani
Digital storyteller
Kazuyo Komoda
Product/Interior designer
Kazuyo Komoda (1961) is a designer based in Milan.
She is working on interior, product and surface design projects.
She works with a number of prestigious companies.
She holds seminars at Italian and Japanese universities.
Her designs are in the permanent collections of museums – such as Triennale di Milano, the Museum fur Angewandte Kunst Köln, Museo Maguma and others.
Kazuyo was born in Tokyo, where she took a design degree at Musashino University of Arts, and began to work.
Since 1989 she has lived and worked in Milan, where after having worked with Denis Santachiara she opened her own studio
Felice Limosani (1966) is a digital storyteller.
He works for international top brand and cultural institutions.
He’s member of Fondazione di Venezia’s board.
He’s the author of projects aimed to aesthetic and emotional engagement of the audience.
He has created site specific installations at Miami Art Basel 2015, Louvre (Paris), Palazzo Strozzi (Florence), Mies Van der Rohe Pavillon (Barcelona), Sketch Gallery (London).
His works combine artistic metaphor, design thinking and digital storytelling, blending the borders between multidisciplinary languages, creative expression and non conventional communication.
Antonio Marras
Fashion designer
Antonio Marras was born in Alghero, Sardinia in 1961.
His debut in the fashion world dates back to 1987, but only in March 1999 he launched his own collection in Milan.
His poetic is characterized by his own interest in all forms of artistic and creative expression.
In 2007 I’M ISOLA MARRAS, the contemporary line, was launched and, recently, the Menswear line has re-debuted with the FW 14-15 collection.
Marras never gives up living where he was born, he always comes back to Alghero to recharge energy, inspiration and creativity.
Alberto Nespoli
Art director at Eligo
Alberto Nespoli (1981) is art director at Eligo.
The Italian craftsmanship is a timeless beauty.
From this concept is born Eligo, the new international brand created to enhance the uniqueness of craft archetypes in which Segno Italiano, strong of five years of experience on the field, turns into a international project, able to carry on both the started collection (thanks to the creative direction of Domenico Rocca and the commercial manager Leo Prusicki) and open new opportunities to design, both of the interior design, thanks to the new division Eligo Studio, directed by Alberto Nespoli.
Marco Sammicheli
Abitare design curator
Marco Sammicheli (1979), design critic and curator, teaches Aesthetics at the School of Design at the Politecnico di Milano.
Degree in Communication Sciences at the University of Siena, he specialized in the history of design at the Bauhaus University in Weimar and holds a doctorate in design and technology for the development of cultural heritage between Politecnico di Milano and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
He collaborated with the Triennale di Milano, the Italian Institutes of Culture in Copenhagen and Istanbul and has been a visiting lecturer at the design center of Valparaiso University and Porto Alegre.
He has worked as a curator for the Museum of the twentieth century and the Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Milan, the max museum Chiasso (CH), respectively, with projects dedicated to Bruno Munari, Gabriele De Vecchi, Vico Magistretti, Ignazio Gardella, Lora Lamm.
It is among the contributors invited by Rem Koolhaas 14.Mostra the International Architecture Biennale in Venice where, in the exhibition “Monditalia”, presents the research projects “Designing the sacred” and “Assisi laboratory” dedicated to design for the sacred and the relationship between city and heritage.
He has regularly written for Zero and La Domenica of Il Sole 24 Ore. For residential he has edited a special issue of Zaha Hadid translated into English and Chinese.
Emiliano Ponzi
Illustrator
Emiliano Ponzi (1978) is an Italian illustrator.
He has received several awards, such as Gold Cube from Art Directors Club of New York; Gold, Silver and Merit medal from New York and Los Angeles Society of Illustrators.
His first monograph “10×10”, published by Corraini in 2011, went sold out in the first and second reprint.
In 2015 he has published “The Journey of the Penguin” for Penguin Books’ 80th anniversary.
Emiliano is considered one of the most sophisticated illustrators of his generation
