The BEBA Foundation of Venice Award for the youngest selected contestant was given to Dominik Uhlír from the Czech Republic, born in 1989. His project refers to the extraordinary aspect of the industrial area of Vítkovice, in Ostrava, in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. Even though it has become a national monument, this site, which is the only one in Europe where coal, iron and steel are worked on together, is still not very well known.
Inspired by the main furnace which dominates the entire industrial area, the young designer created a small lamp, recycling a steel tube utilized in the industrial complex. The light is released from the hole at the bottom of the vertical tube, which is reminiscent of fused metal which flows from the furnace.
The CEI Award was assigned to Ivana Sovilj, a Serbian designer born in 1977. This award goes to the best project from one of the CEI countries not members of the European Community.
Ivana Sovilj chose to represent the medieval city of Korcula, situated on the Adriatic island of the same name in Croatia. The designer concentrated on the urban scheme of the city: the streets are oriented so as to have a continuous exchange of air but at the same time sheltered from strong winds. The map of the city resembles a fishbone. This shape is presented as the symbol of the city: it is in every aspect its “skeleton.” The object is to be executed with bronze casting and gold plating.
“Antonio plays with me” is the name of the work by Roberto Zanon and Greta Bignami, Italian designers born respectively in 1963 and 1988, who have won the Premio Trieste (Trieste Award). Antonio is the name of the largest dinosaur in Italy and one of the most complete in Europe: a Tethyshadros insularis, discovered in1994 near Trieste.
Trieste Contemporanea decided to establish this special award for the theme of year’s competition in collaboration with the Civico Museo di Storia Naturale di Trieste (the Civic Museum of Natural History of Trieste) which preserves the artefact, to commemorate the twenty years since its discovery and to further increase the value of this cultural asset of the Triestine area.
Roberto Zanon and Greta Bignami have designed a kit of stamps to give life back to dinosaur Antonio. The kit is targeted at a special group: children from age six to nine. “The idea”, say the designers, “is to disassemble the profile of the dinosaur utilizing a series of independent stamps. In this way, the different parts of the dinosaur’s body can be freely reassembled, ‘animating’ a final design which changes the poses of the animal, even in a ‘fantastical’ manner—transforming the interpretation of the children into a game.”
After many years, a young Italian woman has won the contest’s overall grand prize. The Gillo Dorfles Award went to Sara Sossi, born in 1987. Using her background as a graphic, the designer wanted to highlight some of the major monuments of the city of Trieste.
The project “Cromopoli”, in the words of its designer, “wants to create memories and not objects, and is constructed for tourists who don’t want to limit themselves to just following a guide but want also to explore the city and have fun interacting with its monuments.” The proposed kit consists of a map, a notebook with pencil, five postcards and an instructions flyer. It is inspired by the childhood game of coin rubbing (frottage). The tourist would be able to trace out some stamp-icons (made available near the cultural landmarks and monuments) on the notebook and postcards supplied, make personal notes, mail them to friends, gathering memories and suggestions.
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the final exhibition
read the catalogue