Future Concept Lab » Milan Design Week

Milano Design Award 2015

FCL — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 08:00:53 +0000

Reaching it’s 5th edition, Milan Design Award, first and unique award dedicated to the best set-ups of Milan Design Week, part of Design Week Festival organized by Elita in partnership with La Repubblica, IED, Future Concept Lab, Casa Matera, fuorisalone.it and lovli.it, has been assigned to “ANTONIO MARRAS + SEGNO ITALIANO: IL SENTIERO DEI NIDI DI RAGNO”.

The motivation says: “For the effective orchestration of fiction, technology and artifacts. The installation is shown in exemplary coherence between concept and execution, in a perfect balance between poetry and materiality.”
Assigned by Cristina Tajani – “Fashion & Design” Council Member of Comune di Milano – and Antoine Vauthey – ECAL Exhibition Director – winner of Milano Design Award 2014 – on the main stage of Teatro Franco Parenti during the official awarding ceremony, on Sunday 19 April.
“Now at its fifth edition, Milan Design Award is still one of the most interesting moments of the Milan Design Week as it helps to enhance Fuorisalone’s work of research and creativity through a reasoned selection of the stands.” – says Economic Development, Fashion and Design Council Member of Comune di Milano, Cristina Tajani, who continues: “This year’s selection also enhances collaboration between design and fashion by focusing on the two areas that define the identity of the city”

The other awarded projects are:

Best Tech
Winner: Droog – “Construct Me!”
For the originality in the choice to work on the “micro” dimension, which becomes added value without the need for spectacular effects. The project entered discreetly in a Milanese reality consolidated, to show the technology behind the design, through experimental and innovative products, highly technical, yet poetic.

Best Sound – assigned by IED
Winner: Wonderglass – “Wonderglass”
For the symbiotic relationship between sound design, exhibits and staging. The installation as a whole has been able to overcome the traditional concept of “background music” in the direction of an experience truly immersive.

Best Impact
Winner: Marni – “Mercado de Peloquemao”
For the visually striking, linked to this ongoing project of social support. The opulence of nature is in harmony with the desire to involve the city through an opportunity for exchange and openness.

Best Entertaining
Winner: Lexus – “A journey of the senses”
For the ability to entertain at 360 degrees, involving all senses literally. A journey from the formal aspects related to the product, get to stimulate the more intimate perception, through surprise and discovery.

Special Mention
Winner: Gamfratesi / Danish Art Foundation “MIND CRAFT 15”
For the extraordinary visual impact, generated by a essential but brave project, dialoguing in harmony with a unique and charming context. The project also emphasizes effectively the delicate relationship between craft and industry.

JTI Clean City Lab 2013: The Winners

FCL — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:00:06 +0000

The winning projects from the international design contest JTI Clean City Lab, created by JT International SA (JTI) in collaboration with Future Concept Lab and under the patronage of Comune di Milano, were announced on April 11, 2013 at La Triennale di Milano. The goal of the contest is to present new urban solutions to relegate the concept of smoking areas to the past, reducing environmental impact and becoming greener. Students and professors of the four design schools participating in the contest – Politecnico di Milano, London South Bank University, IED Spain of Madrid and HEAD of Geneva – attended the prize-giving ceremony.
This year IED Spain of Madrid triumphs as winners of the first prize with its project “Nonsispegne” (Wontstubout) by Jaime Liñan and Dolores Toboso, with the second place going to “Spira” (Swirl) by Alexander D’Alessio. The jury commented on its choice: “The idea of substituting the stubs with clearly visible lights uses this negative behavior to play on the smokers’ social conscience and regenerate urban space; this is a powerful communication tool that can be used equally effectively in the city and on the web”.
On the other hand “Spira” was convincing as “a live breathing membrane attached to city lampposts (or other suitable existing urban elements) that “reacts” to smoke, unfurling to provide an area in which smoke is absorbed so that smokers and non-smokers can mingle. The dynamic nature of this project and its ability to combine aesthetics and functionality are of significant impact”.
The third prize has been awarded to “Drain Away” by Diana Csilla Toth of London South Bank University. Based on the smoker’s habit of throwing cigarette butts down drains, this project transforms a negative act into a socially acceptable ritual by creating ad hoc “drains” for smokers, with a new formal urban color code, perfectly integrated into the language and logic of the city.
The jury has also awarded a special mention for communication to “Smoketionary” created by Liliya Galabova and Mirian Miguel, once again students from Madrid’s IED Spain. This project deserves a special mention for its freshness; by observing smokers as a group, a number of common practices were identified and documented to create a brilliant mapping of opportunities for smokers, transforming the urban territory by highlighting smoking areas and related events.

The Winners

The Jury

Be Open – Milan

FCL — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:08 +0000

Future Concept Lab curated and introduced with the presence of Francesco Morace the series of conferences entitled Be Open, organised in collaboration Interni in the Aula Magna of the Statale di Milano, which saw the participation of 1.500 people over the three days of the festival.