Nature, redevelopment of the suburbs, contrast to patriarchal culture, sustainable and social regeneration of spaces, and a reflection on the new frontiers of digital are the topics covered by the winning projects of the IED Roma Design Awards, the inaugural event of the academic year of the European Institute of Design in Rome, which for its fifth edition and on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the headquarters, took place at the Teatro dell'Opera.
Among the twenty finalist projects just seven were awarded for originality, feasibility, quality, and innovation. “The works awarded this year confirm what IED has expressed for 50 years. That design is profound investigation, imaginative sensitivity and a project at the service of the common good,” said Laura Negrini, director of IED Rome.
Social, inclusive and community-benefiting themes were rewarded. “Quarto Miglio”, a redevelopment project for the peripheral Roman local market, is the best interdisciplinary project. In collaboration with the Municipality of Rome, Daniele Crea, Federico Fazioli, Livia Moroni, Kevin Peraz, Cecilia Rossi, David Gilberto Cortes Sanchez and Lavinia Tiberti, the designers leading the work, have imagined a new identity for a market that today is a transit place, with only two functioning garages. The classes have set up a series of services to regenerate that space, from water houses to study areas. The project also won the Press Award, recognition awarded by a jury of journalists and experts on art, fashion and design. Urban and social regeneration is also the theme of the “Amidgala – Regenerative Ecosystem” project, carried out together with the Reggio Children Foundation- the international centre for the defence and promotion of children's rights and potentials, which won the Award for Design category. Designer Elena Bicocchi imagines a cultural center for teenagers inside one of the abandoned pavilions of Rome's former slaughterhouse, in Testaccio. In the designed learning hub, the student inserts natural and animal elements, with the aim of recalling new relational methods with other species, under an anti-speciesist sphere and in response to environmental exploitation and the climate crisis.
Inclusivity and the fight against patriarchy are the main themes of the "Lace has spikes" project, a jewelry collection developed by student Yi Tian, with the aim of highlighting the problems faced by young Chinese women who live in relationships defined as unconventional. It's a work that tells of the tenacity and softness of the girls through the chosen materials: lace, a fabric that recalls the intimacy and depth of relationships and metal thorns, weapons developed to defend themselves from the outside world, and from that patriarchal propaganda which only protects some relationships. The project won the Award in the Master category.
There were two awards for the interaction between nature and digital. “Biobits: exploring living archives”, a photographic project by Oana Irina Ionasc, which examines the changing relationship between infrastructures, nature and landscape, wins the Visual Art category.
The “Computer generated memories” project, winner of the Performing Art category, also brings the union between human and digital to the stage. A short film by Benedetta Bigliardo and Tommaso Capanni in which human and digital memory are merged and indistinguishable, in an intense interactive performance.
Issue zero of the fashion magazine Crypto, developed by an independent editorial team consisting of Lorenzo Cortellini, Ludovica Micheli, Emma Pascucci, Martina Quitadamo, and Angelica Venturini, wins the Fashion category. This is a work that combines two apparently very distant worlds: fashion and the occult.
Finally, the communication campaign developed to communicate the digital transition and the adoption of the new agile method to Acea employees is the best thesis in the Communication category. The Acea InOnda project, developed by Sarah Addari, Camilla Ciglieri, Vittoria De Stefano, Gloria Scandale, is a web radio that allows employees to tell their stories with the aim of stimulating the community towards new ways of acting, through stories that they talk about trust, collaboration and communication.
Among the novelties of this edition, the Career Award went to Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino and world-famous fashion designer.
The seven winning projects were decided by a scientific committee made up of ten industry professionals: seven representatives of management and academic coordination of IED Roma (Laura Negrini, Gianfranco Bombaci, Max Giovagnoli, Alberto Iacovoni, Paola Pattacini, Lorenzo Terragna, Luigi Vernieri); Vice President of ADI-Association for Industrial Design Antonella Andriani; the Director of Studies, Education and Promotion to the Public of Teatro dell'Opera Nunzia Nigro; and the journalist and art curator Nicolas Ballario.
In addition to Ballario, the Press Award winning project was selected by Chiara Beghelli, Gianmaria Tammaro, Elena Cattaneo, and Alessia Delisi.
Photo: Laura Negrini, director of IED Rome with the teachers and winners of the IED Roma Design Award 2023 at the end of the ceremony. Courtesy image
