Freedom, system and quality. These are the key concepts chosen for the presentation of the 2022 edition of the ADI Design Index, the pre-selection of the work that has been put forward for the forthcoming Compasso d’Oro 2024
by Francesca Ciancio
Freedom, system and quality. Thoseare the three keywords picked to represent the work of the ADI Design Index, 2022 edition, the pre-selection for the 2024 Compasso d’Oro Award. Every year commissions of experts working throughout Italy and central commissions review the country’s entire output of all categories of merchandise.
It is a task undertaken in the name of freedom – the first key concept – which means freedom of creation and method, the presence of design in all aspects of the productive system – from materials to communication services, and product quality. 248 products and 22 projects have been chosen for the Targa Giovani (Youth Badge), the section focussing on work done by students at university design schools.
In 2022, in addition to the 51 products for household furnishing, there were eighteen for lighting, which was set up as its category after recent technological advances and changes in the sector.
By numbers and the importance of ideas, coming alongside the Design per il Lavoro (Design for Work) and Design per la persona (Design for Individuals) categories are Design dei materiali e dei tecnologici (Design of Materials and Technologies) which are 24 products that contribute to the creation of other more complicated products, Ricerca per le imprese (Research for Companies), which are fifteen studies which open new paths to corporate organisation and productive capacity, going beyond individual products, and Design social (Social Design), thirteen initiatives to make users’ lives better. The winners of the prestigious Compasso d’oro will be chosen from the projects that have been selected.
1. SuperSuperfici 2. K 3. Lavazza Voicy 4. Dino 5. Orion 6. My Pick 7. Table 8. Nalu 9. TooA.
«We have rewarded systematic thinking», explained Laura Traldi, from the ADI Design Index 2022 Scientific Committee, «where there is an impact on the environment and on the social sphere, the courage to change and provide sustainable and creative answers. With the strong idea of design as a common good». Ideas have become projects and then products, which all share a desire to create a system, to reflect on the parallel qualities of the contents, materials, and research.
248 products and 22 projects have been chosen for the Targa Giovani (Youth Badge), the section focusing on work done by students at university design schools who will join the candidates for the Compasso d’Oro 2024, the most acclaimed prize in Italian industrial design.
1. 3D Wall Carve 2. Attitude 3. Papiri 4. Spacelab Zero 5. Le Speciali 6. Groove 7. Anima 8. Tech4Inclusion 9. Culture Podcast 10. Cento 11. Pixel 12. Spazio Meta 13. Narrative Threads 14. Talking-Hands Mixité.
Ideas, furthermore, that are a long way off being a concept purely aimed at luxury: «The presentation of the projects selected by the ADI Design Index has always been a chance to draw attention to Italian design, which is increasingly focused on sustainability, innovation, quality and beauty», explained Umberto Cabini, President of the ADI Collezione Compassi d’Oro Foundation.
The Riva 68’ Diable was designed by Officina Italiana Design of Mauro Micheli and Sergio Beretta, the Sanlorenzo SD118 and the BG 72 by Zuccon International Project.
Design is part of a system, and is present throughout the supply chain from which products emerge, from raw materials to the end user.
Of course, we will have to wait to find out who has won the next Compasso d’Oro – June 2024 – but the display rooms of the ADI Design Museum (near the Monumental Cemetery in Milan) provide an opportunity to admire the best of Italian design before the final choice is made. An overall view of the products in the competition gives an idea of the selection criteria used by the scientific committee, so creativity, systematic thought and courage in innovation: «It is no accident that Italian design has for decades been a central player in lifestyle», Umberto Cabini adds. «The partnership between entrepreneurs and designers, together with the commitment to work and strategies, has delivered us a cultural know-how which nowadays is everybody’s inheritance».
QUALITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN CENTRAL TO THE ADI DESIGN INDEX, WHICH WAS CREATED IN 2000 PRECISELY TO IDENTIFY IT IN EVERY SECTOR OF ITALIAN MANUFACTURING.
Echoing this is Francesco Buzzella President of Confindustria Lombardia, who stressed importance of the role plays in society, or the of business culture group of ideas, values shared not just by those business but everybody heavily involved in it.
«Entrepreneurs, workers social actors have to come together around these value in a contemporary world characterised by era-defining changes in the competitive environment, to return to the spirit that characterised the economic post-war boom. At the end of the Second World War, industries and small and medium- sized companies took centre stage in Italy’s rebirth, thanks to entrepreneurs who were visionaries and workers who shared their goals: taking Italian society towards economic, cultural and industrial progress, creating wealth and wellbeing, and reducing poverty and inequality».
«The keywords for the 2022 edition of the ADI Index are quality, system and freedom. Freedom of ideas and projects, quality in the entire design process, systemic because these design dynamics can only exist in a network of interdependent operators».
Umberto Cabini
It is no coincidence that Italian design has been the driving force behind lifestyles for decades.
The idea of “doing things together” is back again, as underlined by Luciano Galimberti, President of ADI Associazione per il Disegno Industriale (Association for Industrial Design): «being free means achieving things together: with that definition, the philosopher Byung- Chul Han calls on us to reflect on how difficult it is nowadays to build a community that can overcome the sense of isolation and egotism. Since its foundation, ADI has seen Italian design as a systematic discipline, inspired by life itself. So, a discipline is deeply rooted in what it does, in its ideas, in its dreams, and in the interests found in our daily activities». The next important date in the Italian design calendar is the Salone del Mobile.
«Being free means achieving things together: With that definition, the philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls on us to reflect on how difficult it is to build a community that can overcome isolation and egotism. Since its foundation, ADI has seen Italian design as a systematic discipline». Luciano Galimberti
Collaboration between entrepreneurs and designers, together with commitments to work and strategies have provided with a level of cultural know-how that today is a universal heritage.
But there is a great love of beautiful, functional design in Milan and the world, as described by Maria Porro, President of the Salone del Mobile.Milano, on the occasion of the ADI Design Index 2022: «The strong link between creativity and industry has always set Italian design apart. It is precisely from this continual exchange between the two main artifices, where the ideas are checked, tried out, tried again, modified if required and finally assessed together, that a product takes shape and comes to life. The Salone del Mobile comes into play at this point and joins in at the end of this long creative process: it is the stage where the projects from over two thousand companies are presented simultaneously for the first time to a very extensive selection of operators from over 180 countries. The Salone shares with ADI the commitment to create a system in the name of research, innovation and the awareness of the value of our collective heritage»
Picture above Masterpiece
(ADI Design Index 2022, freedom of design – Barchemagazine.com – February 2023)
