This is your chance to win the Furniture & Product Design Award by DesignWanted x Isola Design Awards
Isola Design Festival presents the first edition of the Isola Design Awards (deadline July 2nd, 2021) and other upcoming events. Read below to submit your projects!
After the success of the first six weeks, Isola Design Festival comes to life with the first edition of the Isola Design Awards and the presentation of new, extraordinary projects from all over the world. Among the latest entries, designs from the students of the Master in Biodesign at Central Saint Martins (London), the first projects accepted to the Milan Design Week 2021, and much more.
Isola Design Awards
The first edition of the Isola Design Awards has officially opened its doors to Italian and international designers and design studios. The Awards feature 4 different categories and a total of 12 prizes – 3 per category – assigned respectively by the public, the sponsors, and an international jury of 22 members. The public will have a dedicated and highly democratic voting system. While jurors will be in charge of assigning the first prize, consisting of free exhibition space at the Milano Design Week 2021 for the winners.
The categories of Isola Design Awards 2021 are:
Furniture & Product Design – Sponsored by DesignWanted
This category will feature furniture, accessories, lighting, tables, tableware, seating, bookcases, and other interior products. Projects will be awarded based on their uniqueness, creativity, functionality, aesthetic innovation, craftsmanship, and/or use of unconventional materials.
In addition to the jury’s and to the public’s awards, Patrick Abbattista, founder of DesignWanted, will assign the Special DesignWanted Award. The winner will be granted an interview and a dedicated plan of publications on the magazine, social media channels and newsletter.
Find out more about the new hybrid design event by Isola Design District, don’t miss We Are What We Design – Isola Design Festival 2021!
Innovation in Design – Sponsored by Lamitex
This category includes the projects by designers and brands that distinguished themselves for product innovation, the use of innovative technologies, or the design and development of technological objects for home furnishing. Key evaluation criteria will be originality, functionality, aesthetics, and the level of innovation and energy efficiency. For this category, the conferment of the Special Lamitex Award is entrusted to Lamitex, a highly innovative company producing decorative laminates.
The winner will join the style department of the company for the development of Lamitex’ design installation for Milan Design Week 2022. He/she will also be invited as a guest at the installation’s opening event and will receive mentions in all communication materials. In addition, he/she will enjoy room and board for 3 days and 2 nights during Milan Design Week 2022.
Sustainable Design & New Materials – Sponsored by Monkey 47
This category is dedicated to furniture objects distinguished by sustainability – either in the materials and in the production methods. It also includes projects of research and development around bio materials or focusing on the reuse of waste materials, both from industrial processes and everyday life. The aim is to disclose ideas raising awareness around issues like sustainable design, circular economy, and the reduction of environmental impact.
This category is supported by Monkey 47, which for the occasion announces the Special Unum Ex Pluribus Monkey47 Award. The award will be assigned to a project surprisingly combining different materials and featuring a creative mix of naturalness and innovation. In addition to a Monkey 47 special edition, the winner will be awarded a trip to the Black Forest Distillery in Germany to discover the most authentic and eccentric soul of Monkey 47’s gin.
Smart Living and Mobility Design, sponsored by Helbiz
This category features participants whose projects explore design concepts for smart cities, homes, and services. It also includes sustainable mobility solutions, urban furniture, innovative architectural systems, and products to improve life quality.
As in the other categories, in addition to the jury’s and the public’s prize, there will also be the Special Helbiz Award. Helbiz is a micro-mobility company promoting agile, sustainable, and innovative urban transport. Its electric scooters and pedal-assisted bicycles can be located and unlocked directly from the mobile application.
The company will award a project standing out in terms of innovative design concepts and sustainable solutions for mobility or street furniture. Prize: an unlimited yearly pass for Helbiz scooters!
How to join Isola Design Awards
Participation is easy! On join.isola.design/awards, designers and design studios can submit projects created after January 1st, 2020 – or still in production – in unlimited numbers for each category. The submission deadline is July 2nd, 2021.
Each nominated project will initially be evaluated by Isola’s curatorial team based on the criteria for each category. The top designers will have the opportunity to create the Basic Profile on isola.design and upload their projects by July 4th, 2021.
The nominated projects will then be voted on by the public from June 1st to July 16th and by the jury members and the sponsors from July 5th to July 16th.
Nominated designers, jury members, sponsors, partners, and press will receive exclusive invitations to the awards ceremony, scheduled for July 23rd in Milan – all in compliance with Covid-19 regulations. It will be a unique opportunity to celebrate the protagonists of this first edition of the awards. The event will also be broadcast live streaming on Isola TV.
The latest projects presented at the Festival
From the early days of the event, Isola Design Festival has welcomed dozens of new projects. Here are some of the latest entries:
Post Digital Vases by Coudre, a post-digital studio founded by Raul Nieves, Jude Serena and Valeria Ustárez. They challenge traditional 3D printing methods, working carefully on the path of the printer to create unique shapes.
Bodega, by Alonso Herrera. With his DIY Glue Chair, the designer wants to bring people as close as possible to the process of creating a design object by providing the tools and steps to build it.
Stone Series by Courtney Evans and Abby Ross, the multidisciplinary designers behind Artish Studio – a design studio led only by women. In their project, they realize the desire to combine bent metal – a material the studio was already familiar with – with the simplicity and naturalness of stone.
The Netherlands is increasingly represented at the Festival and in the Isola Community, their newest entries are:
56 Hours, a design studio based in Rotterdam, founded in 2018 by Viki Nagy and Mate Olah. They work mixing craftsmanship and digital production techniques as exemplified in the OO Stool x Plasticiet, realised using only recycled plastic from a chocolate factory.
Studio Jeroen van Veluw. Founded by Jeroen van Veluw and based in Utrecht, it works on the creation of simple and functional products and spaces, such as Festa. Festa is a seat made of steel components, whose modular assembly and intuitive design aim to create a relationship between the object and the person.
What’s more?!
In addition to Isola Design Awards, over the next months, Isola will sparkle the design scene with many other initiatives included in the Isola Design Festival schedule.
To highlight the work undertaken with the international design academies in the scouting of young talents, there will be a presentation of 16 projects from the Master in Biodesign of Central Saint Martins (London). The course aims to articulate alternative and innovative design proposals to redefine and rethink the use of energy, water, air, waste, and materials. The program explores bioinformed design strategies as drivers towards a more holistic and biologically sustainable future.
MABD students are the first generation of bio designers and their projects will be premiered at isola.design/festival starting from June 30th, with a live streaming presentation on Isola TV from the school’s lab in London and – in the following days – interviews with the students as they talk about their projects. A selection of their works will also be presented during Milan Design Week 2021 (Isola, 5-10 September). But it doesn’t end here!
At the end of August, it will be possible to register for Isola Design Classes, a series of workshops and training courses about design, marketing, communication, photography, graphics, PR, and other skills meant to support emerging designers in the promotion of their projects.
In September it will start the Milan Design Week, during which Isola will enjoy the return to the physical experience of design. The exhibitions, installations, and events already planned in the neighbourhood include Materialized. After its success at the Dutch Design Week, the exhibition – exploring sustainable design projects and new materials – will open an extended version, on via Pastrengo 14.
Stecca 3 already scheduled an event on playful design, a theme explored through a group exhibition, talks, and some colourful installations. There will be the launch of Isola Design Gallery, with an online shop and a temporary store in the district, where it will be possible to buy sustainable furniture and collectibles, made by the designers of Isola Design Community.
To discover all the projects selected for the Festival, explore the virtual spaces, follow the events in live streaming on Isola TV, stay up to date on the entire program and read the latest news on Isola Design Magazine, at isola.design.
Discover how Isola Design District is influencing and changing the world of design, take a look at DesignWanted’s thoughtful selection of Isola Design District-related publications!
