COMPASSO D’ORO AWARD OVER THE DECADES
The List #13
by Antonella Dedini
This month’s issue of The List presents a selection of award-winning designs and the reasons for their success. The Compasso d'Oro award is the oldest and highest honor in industrial design and promote quality in the world of design.
The Compasso d'Oro award is the oldest and highest honor in industrial design. A way to raise awareness and promote quality in the world of design, it includes all categories of design and was created by La Rinascente department store at the suggestion of architect Gio Ponti in 1954. The primary goal in creating the award was to emphasize the value of the nascent industrial products that Italian companies were presenting to the market with creativity and entrepreneurial spirit. The fruitful and effective collaboration between industry and design gave a stage to young designers, who found fertile ground to bring their ideas to life thanks to entrepreneurs who believed in them.
The Compasso d’Oro award was thus established out of a desire for a cultural relationship that was more consistent with the dynamics of postwar social development. The award was taken over by the ADI (Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, Association for Industrial Design) in 1957. Today, the Compasso d'Oro Award is the ultimate representation of the progress of Italian design.
This month’s issue of The List presents a selection of award-winning designs and the reasons for their success, which most certainly include the designers’ natural predisposition for risk, spontaneity and experimentation.
WHAT EXACTLY IS DESIGN?
Bruno Munari: Zizì monkey; Pigomma (1952), 1954 Compasso d’Oro award
Slender and nimble thanks to a thin wire that allows for myriad positions, this little monkey twists as it climbs, following the movements of our hands. As Bruno Munari said: “Foam rubber had recently been invented, and mattresses and various paddings were made with it. One day a Pirelli executive asked me, ‘What can you make with foam rubber besides mattresses?’”
This little monkey was created as a toy and game, especially for the mind, and for those who, following the teaching of the great Munari, want to learn and develop their creativity while playing. It is one of the creations that best represent the role of discipline in design, in a search for the perfect balance between material and form, functional performance and cognitive development.
This was the motivation behind the prestigious Compasso d’Oro award which Munari won in 1954. “Most toys are child-appropriate mechanics or playful imitations of animals or human figures. This small monkey instead represents an interpretation of a figurine that represents formal precision in a material like foam rubber. This is a toy that belongs to a category that has made it the object of intellectual interest”.
THE PERFECT ARMCHAIR
Gianfranco Frattini; Agnese armchair, mod. 849; Tacchini (1956); 1956 Compasso d’Oro Honorable Mention
Tacchini’s reissue of one of the world's most famous chairs in terms of comfort and design is a tribute to celebrated designer Gianfranco Frattini. Originally produced by Cassina, the armchair had a solid walnut wood frame and was upholstered in green vinyl leather. Today it has an ash wood supporting structure that cradles a sinuous shell and an upholstered backrest. This contrast of forms makes it extremely simple and reliable, ergonomic and classic.
In the late 1950s in Italy, Gianfranco Frattini was one of the founders of ADI, which today is the organization that assigns the Compasso d'Oro award.
FIAT 500: FOR FREE WOMEN
Dante Giacosa, Fiat 500 automobile; Fiat S.p.A. (1957–1975); 1959
Five million of these 2-cylinder super hatchbacks were created, and they went at a top speed of 85 kilometers per hour.
Perhaps the most famous car in the world, it’s clear why it was so successful.
First, given that it used very little gas, it managed to defy the fuel price hikes following the Suez crisis that gripped the market at that time. It was also a perfect conglomeration of technical features that made it possible to sell it at a much lower price than the prior Fiat 600.
It offered great driving stability thanks to its compact design, but above all it was the answer for those who had long dreamed of a car designed for women. At the height of the economic boom, the 500 paved the way for city cars and mass motorization in Italy.
POLYURETHANE
Roberto Menghi; Hall 99 armchair; Arflex (1958); 1959 Compasso d’Oro Honorable Mention
In the 1950s, furniture company Arflex was founded thanks to the Pirelli research center, and polyurethane foam made its entrance into the world of furniture.
The famous Lady armchair by Marco Zanuso designed in 1951 was the first seat to use this innovative material.
It was a design that marked the advent of contemporary upholstery. Arflex’s aim was to harness all the possibilities that Pirelli’s foam rubber and elastic offered in furniture making. This goal resulted in the creation of highly technological and aesthetic designs, also thanks to collaborations with the most important architects and designers of the time.
It was architect Roberto Menghi who optimized the use of polyurethane with the Hall series of armchairs and sofas. The armchair has a metal frame covered in shaped polyurethane and a wenge-stained ash wood base. The process of shaping furniture with polyurethane allows for different types of upholstery based on its use for the seat, back or armrests.
This is a seat that has now become a classic among chairs that are perfect for relaxing.
THE FIRST CHAIR MADE ENTIRELY OF PLASTIC MATERIAL
Marco Zanuso, Richard Sapper; K1340 chairs, Kartell (1964); 1964 Compasso d’Oro award
This was my armchair as a child and it accompanied me throughout my childhood from kindergarten to elementary school.
It wasn’t just a chair, but could be assembled based on shapes and colors, and stacked to create pieces of architecture. Perhaps it was also where my passion for design came from.
It is a quintessential piece of design because it makes perfect use of material and the production process (it can easily be taken apart and put back together again).
The skilled designers who made it exalted its material and forms in a wealth of details, creating a playful design whose soft, rounded shapes can be easily cleaned – an important detail given that this is a chair for kids.
THE RED SUBWAY LINE: PRODUCT AND SERVICE DESIGN
Franco Albini, Franca Helg, Antonio Piva, Bob Noorda; signage and fitting out of the MM1, Milan subway red line (1964); 1964 Compasso d'Oro award
Milan’s MM1 metro line is an example of visual communication that nowadays is still used as a model. Its distinctive graphics and layout elements were intended to make it easier for subway travelers.
Today, these distinctive elements stand out among other communication choices while maintaining their high design value, making them successful over the years.
The subway colors and design are an intuitive coordinated image, featuring a perfect combination of graphics, architecture, functional elements and accents that are the protagonists of the subway space.
Red tubular handrails intersect with the geometric lines of the subway signage that is once more reflected in the color of the subway cars. And the use of black rubber floors produced by Pirelli and the clocks with big faces created a look that has been copied all around the world.
MY WASHING MACHINE
Zanussi Industrial Design Office; Rex Zanussi automatic washing machine, mod. P5 (1967); 1967 Compasso d'Oro award
Its small size is what made this innovative household appliance so popular.
Efficient, functional and aesthetically pleasing, this washing machine, despite its small size, is easy competition for larger and more traditional machines. It has a brown lid that hides the controls and gives it a less appliance-like and more furniture-like appearance.
Personal fun fact: this was my family’s washing machine in our vacation home for 40 years and it is still working. Could it be that today’s newfangled appliances are an example of planned obsolescence to the detriment of consumers?
THE REVOLUTION
Afra and Tobia Scarpa; Soriana armchair; Cassina (1969); 1970 Compasso d'Oro award
Plush and sensual, like a voluptuous woman wearing a generous dress secured by a large metal belt to form soft folds around the entire body.
This chair was named Soriana, and it transforms into the informal seat that revolutionized the history of upholstered furniture thanks to polyurethane foam. This material allowed for the design of unconventional shapes and relaxation.
Today it is produced in a sustainable version because polyurethane has been replaced by an organic-based foam, with the aim of creating less environmental impact and a higher level of comfort.
AN INFORMAL SEAT
Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro; the Sacco chair; Zanotta (1968); 1970 Compasso d’Oro Honorable mention; 2020 Career Award
Almost everyone knows and has sat in a bean bag chair, which is perfectly anatomical as it conforms to the shape of the person who sits on it thanks to the expanded polystyrene beads used as a filling material. It’s also lightweight and can easily be moved to different spaces.
Although it catalyzes everyone's attention with its unusual presence, it proves to be the ultimate informal object. It’s clearly in tune with the times in which it was designed: contrary to the rigid and formal bourgeois models, it was a piece of furniture that was free from forms, and accommodated relaxed postures.
MULTIPURPOSE FURNITURE
Vico Magistretti, Maralunga 675 armchair and sofa series; Cassina; 1979 Compasso d'Oro award
“I was designing something for Cesare Cassina... This sofa was created from the idea of an armrest with a simple cushion attached. Looking at it and swinging it, I thought of making a movable cushion also as a headboard for a sofa...Thus the Maralunga sofa was born, one of the best-selling pieces of Italian design”, said Vico Magistretti (description from the Vico Magistretti Archive).
“Beyond any scope in fashion and style”, the Maralunga sofa and armchair address the theme of multipurpose furniture, and thus the personalization of posture. With simple movements that look like wings or bird feathers, the seat is especially innovative because you can choose whether you want the armrest and headrest in a high or low position.
And there’s a secret to its height adjustment mechanism: a bicycle chain hidden in its structure allows for smooth movement.
It’s interesting to understand the design process of Magistretti, whose ultimate goal was not strict, formal design but rather to meet functional needs dictated by the rituals of a new style of living in which people – having abandoned conversations – rested in more relaxed positions when watching television.
VERSATILE FURNITURE
Cini Boeri, collaboration with Laura Griziotti; Strips family; Arflex (1968) 1979 Compasso d’Oro award
The Strips series became a bestseller ever since it was introduced in the late 1960s.
It comes in various modular interpretations that can be mixed and matched based on one’s needs and space. The structure consists of a monobloc of polyurethane foam on a rigid base. Versatile and comfortable, it features quilted upholstery made of detachable parts, padded with polyester, and almost resembles a refined interpretation of a modern sleeping bag. Completely removable, each part of the cover is connected thanks to practical zippers.
“It can be used as a shell that can be stripped down, washed, changed, and re-dressed”, wrote Cini Boeri in 1974. “The bed, which is also washable, offers a quicker use than usual…It opens, you get in, and it closes, it opens, and you get out. Strips are necessary things and are easy to use”.
THE CROSS ARMCHAIR
Marcello Cuneo, CROSS ARMCHAIR, Arflex (1974); 1979 Compasso d'Oro Honorable Mention
This design is now back in production, which is good news for a folding chair that we can safely say is the father of camping and garden chairs that have long been in use.
Arflex is reissuing, from its historical archives, one of its most successful pieces: the Cross armchair. This is a refined “chauffeuse” (originally a low chair for warming up in front of the fire), but with comfortable padding in the seat and back. The practical, folding structure is very simple, consisting of two lacquered metal tubes bent into a U-shape and connected by a joint. Thick cloth covers with a load-bearing function are slipped onto the two structures to support the seat and back cushions, which are padded with acrylic fibers. Nowadays the chair is also available with a leather seat and cover.
NOTHING COMES FROM NOTHING
Jonathan De Pas, Donato D'urbino, Paolo Lomazzi; Sciangai clothes stand; Zanotta (1974), 1979 Compasso d’Oro award
Donato D'Urbino recalled the Latin saying nihil ex nihil, or “nothing comes from nothing”, meaning that everything always comes from something that came before it and serves as a basis for the development of something else.
Sciangai is a self-supporting coat rack comprising eight identical wooden rods joined at the center with a solid joint. By rotating the rods, the coat rack can be easily opened or closed.
The coat rack’s name is a nod to the Chinese pickup sticks game (called “shangai” or “Mikado” in Italian), but D’Urbino also says that it was designed after “observing an old three-legged stool with a leather seat: we kept the type of joint that joined the legs, stretched them out of proportion, and used eight legs instead of three”.
A TOTAL REVOLUTION!
Antonio Citterio, Sity seating system; B&B Italia (1987); 1987 Compasso d'Oro award
When the Sity system of chairs, chaise longues and sofas came out on the market in the late 1980s, it was a must-have that revolutionized classic living area furniture arrangements.
At a time when design software didn’t yet exist as the faithful companion of designers, B&B Italia supplied interior design studios with blue transparent plastic “templates" where the outline of each individual element of the system could be traced on the sketching paper, thus facilitating the endless possibilities of arranging the modular parts that became flexible and interchangeable.
This seating system was a big revolution that changed people’s style of living and was part of the changes that took place within homes dictated by the technological revolution. The sofa seat changed shape and became deeper and wider to stretch out one’s legs or sit more comfortably. The living room transformed from a formal space into a place where the entire family could hang out together, listening to must and watching television shows.
IN PIEDI SULLA “S”
Luigi Baroli, Paravento Cartoons, Baleri Italia, (1992), 1994 Compasso d’Oro award
This free-standing S-shaped partition wall measures 170 cm high and is made from pure corrugated cellulose that is totally recyclable, so it was ahead of its time in terms of environmental awareness. It is also light and easy to move and easy to close as it rolls up on itself, taking up very little space.
This super practical, super beautiful screen is perfect for separating spaces in a room or creating privacy.
FRIENDS OF INDUSTRY
Harri Koskinen, MUU chair in solid oak, designed for Montina and now for BBB Italia (2004); 2004 Compasso d’Oro award
Harri Koskinen’s studio in Finland is called Friends of Industry to make it clear what the designer's design approach is, and his strong connection to the industry that inspires his design choices.
The artist's design style is pragmatic and essential, in keeping with his Scandinavian roots.
MUU is a simple, understated, yet impressive seat. Its design was “performance-based” with a kind of expressive functionality, which the modernist wave of the 1930s put great emphasis on. It places at the forefront the relationship with the human body and its need for emotion in the choice of material (wood in this case) and the feel and temperature of the object.
MUU has a solid wood frame with a shell covered in oak plywood, a timeless technique used by master architect and designer Alvar Aalto and his wife Aino in the 1940s.
INNOVATION FROM TRADITION
Paolo Favaretto; Venezia chair; BBB Italia (2006); 2008 Compasso d'Oro Honorable Mention;
Picture 1 by Ezio Manciucca
The name of this chair comes from the traditional Venetian wooden model from the mid-19th century, which suited any style and was used both indoors and outdoors in restaurants and cafes.
The Venezia chair holds the DNA of that traditional seat, both in the simple and iconic contemporary reinterpretation of this design history classic, and in the detail of its sloping backrest: “A form inspired by the unmistakable iron “comb” on Venetian gondolas, whose teeth stand for the neighborhoods of the Venetian lagoon” (Paolo Favaretto). This detail makes the seat even more enveloping and comfortable.
Up to six Venezia chairs can be stacked on top of each other, and the monobloc chair is made from injection-molded fiberglass-filled polypropylene. Extremely lightweight and available in four colors, it’s perfect for indoor and outdoor spaces.
THE GOLDEN RATIO
Brian Sironi; Elica table lamp; Martinelli Luce (2009); 2011 Compasso d’oro award
This table lamp was created based on golden ratio proportions, with a geometric balance in form and functionality.
The lamp features an adjustable aluminum arm and a conical metal base. At first glance, it appears to be inspired by traditional lamps designed by the great masters, but in reality it stands out because it has no visible details or mechanisms like screws, joints or switches. It’s simply the movement of the arm that generates the light that leaves behind, in the gesture of the rotation, a magical trail of light in a poetic interaction with the person who uses the light and doesn’t merely have to flip a switch on or off.
A LOOP OF LIGHT
Studio Natural; Fluida table lamp; Martinelli Luce (2013); 2016 Compasso d'Oro Honorable Mention
This little table lamp helps us imagine new worlds and new stories and in a “fluid” manner that adapts to different needs and contexts.
This lamp moves, is flexible and can be transformed into a variety of configurations. It gives off direct light thanks to an adaptable band with a LED source that joins the two resin bases thanks to magnets. The two bases can be joined in a variety of ways, changing the orientation of the LED band and creating light that shines differently each time.
EMERGENCY DESIGN
Cristian Fracassi and Alessandro Romaioli; Easy Covid-19; Isinnova, in collaboration with Decathlon; (2019); 2022 Compasso d’Oro award
How did the world of design confront the pandemic? Here is a great example: Easy Covid-19 is a normal EasyBreath snorkel mask which was transformed into an emergency respiratory device. A small 3D printed connector valve was added to make a helmet CPAP for sub-intensive care units.
Isinnova is a company of young and passionate engineers, graphic designers, architects and computer scientists and was founded by Christian Fracassi. It’s one of the many initiatives that are defining a new field of design called Emergency Design, which must be fast both in conception and production, easily created and used even by non-experts, and communicate effectively, responding to real and contingent issues.
For those interested in the topic, follow the Instagram profile Design Emergency, founded in 2020 by Alice Rawsthorn, a British design critic and journalist, together with Paola Antonelli, senior curator of the Department of Architecture and Design and Director of Research and Development at MoMA in New York.
