In the brand new spaces of the ADI Design Museum in Milan – that will officially open its doors in December – a jury has announced the winners of the 2020 Compasso d’Oro Awards, Italy’s most important industrial design award.
The Compasso d′Oro was launched in 1954, and is now the highest honour in the industrial designing circle in Italy. To date, approximately 300 designs have been honoured the Award, covering a wide range of products from sofas to coffee machines.
This year in addition to the 18 Compasso d’Oro Awards, there are 9 Compasso d’Oro Career Awards, 3 International Compasso d’Oro Awards and, for the first time the Products Compasso d’Oro Award, awarded to objects that were successful over time.
Winners include Carlo and Piero Molteni, sons of Angelo and Giuseppina Molteni, founders of the Molteni Group for the Compasso d’Oro career award. The group are behind many iconic designs, from the Milano chair to the Less Series.
The Intreccio sink for antoniolupi was awarded the prestigious Certificate of Honor at the XXVI Compasso d’Oro ADI awards.
Designed by Paolo Ulian, the ultra-light marble sink weighing only 55 kg, is created from a block of marble measuring only 11 cm in which the cuts are optimised to obtain the concentric rings which give life to a three-dimensional volume.
Intreccio is classed as an eco-sustainable sink as the technology used for its manufacturing allows for a drastic reduction of raw material waste.
Products Compasso d’Oro Award
Winners of this category include the Arco by Castiglioni brothers produced by Flos (1962), the Nathalie bed by Vico Magistretti produced by Flou (1978) and the Sacco produced by Zanotta and designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro in 1968.
Designed by brothers Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni for Flos in 1962, the Arco lamp is characterised by a suspended spun aluminium pendant attached to an upright slab of Carrara marble via a large, arching arm made of stainless steel.
Originally designed by Vico Magistrettie for Flou in 1978, it is the bows which make the Nathalie bed unmistakable. The headboard and base are upholstered in either fabric, leather or Ecopelle and are completely removable.
The original ‘beanbag chair’ known as Sacco was designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro in 1968. Fifty years later Zanotta continue to produce the popular chair.
International winners
Among the international winners are Emilio Ambasz and Jasper Morrison.
London-based designer Jasper Morrison created an exhibition of cork furniture for the designer’s first solo show in New York in 2019. The pieces were cut from cork block material left over from wine bottle cork stopper production.