PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2023: THE WINNERS

05/03/2024

PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2023: THE WINNERS

Here are the winners of the contest promoted by PORADA and POLI.design along with ADI’s sponsorship

PRIZE MONEY: € 11.000

1st PRIZE PROFESSIONALS (€ 3.000): "BRINA" by Marco Ferrari

1st PRIZE STUDENTS (€ 2.000): "CAPRIOLO" by Advay Gupta

PORADA INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD 2023’sceremony is going to take place on Wednesday, March 21st, 2024, at 3 p.m., at Porada’s showroom in Milan, 18, Borgospesso Street.

On its 11^th edition, the contest is promoted by Porada, a lead company in the wood furniture and furnishings sector based in Cabiate, together with POLI.design, a consortium company affiliated with the Politecnico di Milano. The initiative is sponsored by ADI, Association for Industrial Design. This year's theme was MIRRORS and their multiple and different shapes.

The jury met on February 23 at Villa del Grumello on Lake Como and chose three winners in the Professional category, three in the Student category and one for the "Giacomo Allievi" Special Mention. The winning projects captured the spirit of the competition by interpreting the values and identity of Porada, a leading brand in Italian design, enhancing the use of solid wood and proposing innovative and original solutions.

The overall prize of €11.000 was subdivided as follows:

For the PROFESSIONALS category:

1^st prize: € 3.000: Marco Ferrari with "BRINA"

2^nd prize: € 2.000: Vincentius Aldi Masella with “CHIPS”

3^rd prize: € 1.000: Lina Paola Farina with "SWEEP"

“Giacomo Allievi” special mention: € 1.000: Aktai Deniz with “ASCENSION”

For the STUDENTS category:

1^st prize: € 2.000: Advay Gupta, Istituto Marangoni Milan, with "CAPRIOLO"

2^nd prize: € 1.200: Marco Gabatel, Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera, with "SINTESI"

3^rd prize: € 800: Andrea Sasdelli e Andrea Somaschini, Politecnico di Milano, with "BRUNELLESCHI"800

STUDENTS category special mention:

Jacob Zettersten

This year saw a record-breaking edition: 862 entries, 557 projects received from all over the world and presented to the judging panel (253 in the professional category and 304 in the student category). Numerous entries from Italy and equally positive response internationally. Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Germany, Greece, Macedonia, Russia, Denmark, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Cyprus, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Belgium, Japan, China, Romania, and India are just some of the many nations involved.

Marco Ferrari won the Professional category competition with the “Brina” project. His mirror, with its elegant and essential forms, stands out thanks to its slender solid wood columns: tapered toward the ends, fixable from the floor to the ceiling through adjustable feet containing the reflective surface itself and the metal backrest. "Brina" can be freely positioned within a space either as a wall accessory or a partition-divider element. The structure allows for a broad functional versatility, involving the addition and serial repetition of upright elements and the articulation of functional variations designed to accommodate additional mirrors, cross bars for hanging, small shelves and storage.

Advay Gupta, Product design student at Milan’s Istituto Marangoni, on the other hand, won the Student category prize with “Capriolo.” The mirror takes inspiration from zoomorphic references achieving a measured balance and a compositional sobriety that smoothly combines the rotating marble base and solid wood with the elegance of its shapes. The base, due to the attention to detail and recesses, is shaped with multifunctional grips and handles enhancing the versatility and usability of the piece in any space. An elegant project that fully interprets Porada's design and dedication to create timeless objects that transcend trends.

The “Giacomo Allievi” Special mention, selected by architectElisabetta Allievi, was awarded to the project which stood out the most for finding the balance between traditional woodworking craftsmanship and modern design expressed in the structural and creative development of the project.

The jury in charge of selecting the winners was formed by:

Tiziano Allievi, Porada President

Bruno Allievi, Porada business partner and former President

Roberto de Paolis, POLI.design

Perla Gianni Falvo, ADI Tuscany President

Virginie Friedmann e Delphine Versace, Friedmann&Versace interior design studio

Delfina Cortese, Delfina Design studio di interior design

Ben Spriggs, Editor in Chief Elle Décor UK

Aurelio Magistà, Editor-at-large Door and Design Editor Rep. Design

José Manuel Moreno Jiménez, Gunni&Trentino General Director

When evaluating the entries, the jury considered originality, innovation and the search for new design solutions referring to typical solid wood manufacturing, experimentation with materials and surface finishes, and the ability of the projects to define and anticipate usage scenarios and innovative concepts in the use of wood furniture and contemporary furnishing accessories, with particular attention to the typological, technological and morphological determinations of mirrors.