On the occasion of Mettere Radici – XXVI Compasso d’Oro ADI, the exhibition held after the award ceremony of the most important Italian design recognition and recently concluded, for the first time, the general public was able to visit the new spaces of the ADI Design Museum which will open in December 2020.
This creation of a brand new reference point for design has been underlined by the new name given to the square in front of the museum entrance which was officially named the Piazza del Compasso d’Oro by Filippo Del Corno, Milan City Council spokesman for culture on the same day as the award ceremony.
The 18 Compasso d’Oro awards assigned by the international jury chaired by Denis Santachiara and including Luca Bressan, Virginio Briatore, Jin Kuramoto and Päivi Tahkokallio have been joined by 9 Compasso d’Oro career awards, 3 Compasso d’Oro International career awards and, a significant new feature of this edition, 3 Compasso d’Oro Product career awards; these have been assigned to objects whose design has guaranteed not only success but also extraordinary longevity: designed for decades, they are all still happily in production.
This innovation is entirely in line with the keywords of this edition, namely development, sustainability and responsibility. “The very recent viral emergency has shown how our world is deeply interconnected”, explains ADI President Luciano Galimberti. “These are therefore three priorities which can no longer be addressed individually. On the contrary, they represent a uniquely complex system in which the reasons for development must be measured against those of sustainability and extended responsibility far beyond the boundaries of a pragmatism which tends to make the truth conveniently coincide with utility.”
As Umberto Cabini, President of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Collection Foundation puts it “The award ceremony and the exhibition of the XXVI ADI Compasso d’Oro have both been conceived within the context of this turning point – it is now a consolidated objective but still open to the future. The renovated building of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Design Museum which is now open to the public for this edition of the award is not only a significant symbol of the history of Italian culture, but also a solid example of the task for which we are preparing: spreading and raising awareness of the values of design to the general public.”
To underline the new material and ethical roots of the Compasso d’Oro, which is the hallmark of this edition, the exhibition also includes an installation with 18 new trees (one for each winner) which will be planted to mark the occasion: at the end of the event they will become part of the ForestaMi urban forestry project promoted by the Lombardy Region, the Metropolitan Council and the City of Milan, whose goal for 2030 is to enrich the green urban heritage with over 3 million new trees and plants.
The XXVI edition of the ADI Compasso d’Oro is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry for Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism, the Lombardy Region, the Metropolitan City of Milan, the Milan Municipal Council, Confindustria Lombardia and FederlegnoArredo.
Below are the exclusive photographs of the exhibition hosted by the new ADI Design Museum, which we visited in preview.
