Every Day Design Contest
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February 2007“ANGOLO”, BY MARKO MACURA E INGEBORG VAN UDEN, WINS THE ALCANTARA® “EVERY DAY DESIGN CONTEST”A total of 192 projects took part in the Alcantara® Every Day design contest, organized by Alcantara® Lab: and they were all able to provide an extremely contemporary interpretation of Alcantara® as a material that can enhance physical well-being and improve the quality of everyday life.
The contest participants – whose average age was 31 – were challenged with the proposition of product ideas that could significantly underline all the Alcantara® values as well as its uniqueness. In other words, to create original, innovative ideas to be realized using Alcantara®: beautiful, elegant objects, yet extremely resistant, with virtually no maintenance requirements; objects conceived through an expressive design, and capable to tell the Alcantara® story through many different situations and languages.
During Milan Design Week, the projects that a qualified jury, chaired by Giulio Cappellini, selected (obviously also including the winners’ – who shared a 15,000 € prize) will be on show within the framework of “That’s design”, the international event that will take place in Zona Tortona for promoting and providing visibility to emerging talents.
Alcantara® Lab at “That’s design” will be located at the Daylight Studio in via Forcella 13, in the heart of Zona Tortona, where the Alcantara® manifacturing process will also be on show, thanks to the presence of some special tooling. The award ceremony of the Every Day Contest will take place on April 19th at 6 pm. During the ceremony, the future contests will also be announced.
The first prize winner is “Angolo”, designed by Marko Macura e Ingeborg Van Uden.
“Angolo” is a like a mini-portable seat, conceived for a pleasurable pause during a walk, during a day’s work, or during a trip. It truly and effectively underlines and celebrates the aesthetic and tactile characteristics of Alcantara®.
“Angolo” is made with a memory foam combined with Alcantara®: the semi-hard memory foam (that is used for the body of the ironic notched and multi-sided surface) is covered in Alcantara® and it changes shape when it is pressed by a weight, becoming an extremely comfortable seat, while still retaining the pleasant, sensorial surprise of a “crinkled” effect on the surface. When the user stands, hence releasing the weight, “Angolo” goes back to it original shape.
The design of “Angolo” does aways with the bi-dimensional limitation of Alcantara® as a covering material, and underlines it potential as a three-dimensional element. Its shape invites to use it and its sensorial qualities are immediately revealed upon the first touch.
Marko Macura says:
“The aesthetic and sensorial qualities of Alcantara® were an excellent starting point and the inspiration for creating this new design. Alcantara®’s quality, versatility and flexibility make it a very suitable material for developing creative solutions. In Angolo, the Alcantara® characteristics are also coupled with the possibility of the material to be ultra-sonically welded”.
The second prize winner was “Prêtàporter”, designed by Cinzia Curitti and Ferruccio Palumbo. It is an Alcantara® ribbon conceived to cover surfaces in an unusual manner. “Prêtàporter” wraps objects up rather than covering
them: hence using Alcantara® to cover an object becomes an additions game, the suggestion to combine colors, dimensions, finishes and textures that are different from the surface itself.
The results is an original, hand -made layer which is always different that couples the Alcantara® aesthetic and sensorial appeal and elegance with a third dimension.
Cinzia Curitti says:
"Technically and aesthetically speaking, Alcantara® is an excellent material for covering any object. With our concept, we have used the material giving it a three-dimensional, craft-oriented twist. By using it as a ribbon, weaving it and using it in layers, we were also able to
understand and appreciate another Alcantara® characteristics: its depth."
The third prize was won by “Zlin”, designed by Sergio Cordeiro. “Zlin” is a bike saddle for those who truly care about details and who wish to personalize their bike in a distinctive, elegant way. Movable, washable and characterized by an extremely easy maintenance, “Zlin” also features a light aluminium plate that gives the saddle a newly-found importance and that generates a perfectly adaptable accessory system.
Sergio Cordeiro says:
“The first time I touched Alcantara® it was in a car. I immediately sensed that the material was special and what makes it special is the fact that it makes you feel good and that it is very, very beautiful. But also that is available in numerous colors and it is very versatile.”
Marko Macura was born in Belgrade (Serbia) in 1971. He studied in the United States at the Rhode Island School of Design and then in Switzerland at the Art Center College of Design. He then moved to Eindhoven, in the Netherlands, where he worked for Philips Design and where, in 2002, he opened his own studio “Marko Macura Design”.
Cinzia Curitti was born in Turin (Italy) in 1977. She started her professional career in design in 2005, with a collaboration with ad&f, where she deals with industrial design projects, exhibition design and contests.
Ferruccio Palumbo was born in Turin in 1956 and he is the founder of studio ad&f where he responsible for coordination and organization of all design activities.
Sergio Cordeiro was born in Portalegre (Portugal) in 1982. After studying Industrial Design from 2000 through to 2005, he participated, in 2006, to the Design Science Lab of the Buckminister Fuller’s Institute at the United Nations in New York. He is a freelance designer.
