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From left: President of Trieste Contemporanea Giuliana Carbi Jesurun and the winners of the Gillo Dorfles Award 2024 Slavko Petek and Dora Mihinjač, photograph by Agnese Divo (Courtesy of Trieste Contemporanea)

Until 31st July 2024, the Studio Tommaseo in Trieste (via del Monte 2/1) is hosting the exhibition of the finalists of the 15th edition of the International Design Contest Trieste Contemporanea, founded in 1999 by the Italian scholar of aesthetics and design Gillo Dorfles with the aim of showcasing the most original contemporary design offerings from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The catalogue of the works of the finalists and the winning projects will soon be presented in Gorizia, where the exhibition will be held at the Sala Dora Bassi in Via Garibaldi 7 from 31 August to 12 September 2024.

The Seats of Understanding ideas contest is an initiative in line with the GO! 2025 – Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025 project, in which the organising bodies of the two cities declared that they “share the same commitment: being the European Capital of Borderless Culture”. Participants were asked to design an urban furniture and potentially iconic object: a seating installation, such as a functional bench, to be placed in both Nova Gorica and Gorizia, representing symbolic meanings related to the historical location of both cities.
The four awards of 2024 edition – for a total of € 10,000 – have been selected by the international jury of Trieste Contemporanea as the best proposals submitted on the theme of Seats of Understanding for their respective award area.

Linda Baissero (Croatia) wins the BEBA Award  for the youngest participant selected. Her “Flumen” bench is inspired by the two railway bridges in Nova Gorica and Gorizia, Solkanski Most and Ponte Ferroviario, which cross the Soča/Isonzo river. The design represents the union of the two bridges into one, evoking the union of the two cities into a Capital of Culture without borders.

The new KATHLEEN FOREMAN CASALI FOUNDATION Award, for the best project by designers born in Trieste, was awarded to Paola Pisani (Italy), who presented her bench “Seidenstrasse” inspired by gelsibachiculture, a traditional activity in Nova Gorica and Gorizia that has historically made the two cities a point of reference for silk production and processing. “Seidenstrasse” – or Silk Road – evokes the shape of a cocoon, a place par excellence of metamorphosis, transformed into a community space.

The CEI Award, for the best project from a country participating in the Central European Initiative that is not a member of the European Community, was awarded to Drini Berati (Albania) for his bench “The Weaver’s Seat”. The curved shape of the bench mirrors the flow of the Soča River, symbolising the intertwined destinies of the two cities. At dusk, the bench undergoes a metamorphosis, lighting up with a warm glow, inviting moments of quiet contemplation.

The Croatian group composed of Slavko Petek and Dora Mihinjač wins the GILLO DORFLES Award for the best design in the 15th edition of the contest. Their “Go sit” proposal consists of a series of seamless metal tubes. The backrest symbolically represents both the border that divides the two cities and the deep cultural connection between them. The bench is designed to be used from either side, emphasising the symbiotic relationship between the two cities.

The projects of 11 finalists selected by the jury will also be on show: the group Cristiano Antonutti and Matteo Mizzaro (Italy), Davide Benvenuti (Italy), Azzurra Brugiotti (Italy), Denny Candotto (Italy), Cristian De Marchi (Italy), Doris Forsthuber-Miedaner (Austria), the group Mateusz Góra and Agata Gryszkiewicz (Poland), the group Jurij Ličen (Slovenia) and Taole Chen (Austria), Karol Murlak (Poland), the group Federico Morescalchi and Leonardo Pilati (Italy), and Paul Rajakovics (Austria).
The curators of the final exhibition are the members of the international jury panel of the contest composed by Giuliana Carbi Jesurun (Trieste Contemporanea), Barbara Fabro (Central European Initiative), Nicla Indrigo (ADI – Association for Industrial Design), Giulio Polita (architect and architectural historian) and Maja Vardjan (MAO – Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana).
The fifteenth edition of the prestigious contest has been organised by the Trieste Contemporanea Committee under the umbrella of GO!2025 Nova Gorica – Gorizia, with the support of the Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, with the patronage of the Central European Initiative, the ADI – Association for Industrial Design, the City Hall of Gorizia, and the City Hall of Nova Gorizia, with the support of the Kathleen Foreman Casali Foundation of Trieste and the BEBA Foundation of Venice, and with the collaboration of the MAO – Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, the KCB – Cultural Centre of Belgrade and the Studio Tommaseo of Trieste.

Linda Baissero, "Flumen". Winner of the BEBA Award, 2024

Paola Pisani, "Seidenstrasse", Winner of the Kathleen Foreman Casali Foundation Award, 2024

Drini Berati, "The Weaver's Seat", Winner of the CEI Award, 2024

Slavko Petek e Dora Mihinjač, "Go sit". Winners of the Gillo Dorfles Award, 2024