Velasca design project. Ideas beneath the tower


The design competition dedicated to young talents from the School of Architecture and Design

Milan, April 11, 2016 EVENT

Milano Design Week, during which the Velasca Tower has hosted some of the most interesting events of FuoriSalone in the centre of Milan was chosen as the perfect time to launch the Velasca design project. Ideas beneath the Tower, the contest dedicated to the most promising young designers from four of the most important Schools and Universities of Architecture and Design in Milan: IED, NABA, Milan Polytechnic, and Polytechnic School of Design.

Promoted by UnipolSai Assicurazioni as part of the Urban Up project and in collaboration with Studio Lissoni, Velasca Design Project will involve various teams of Italian and foreign students who will study one or more furnishing objects: a table, a lamp, an armchair, a stool, and a chair. In this manner, Velasca Tower becomes a forge for young talents, involving the most brilliant students in a challenge to reinterpret commonplace objects that have always been part of the Italian design tradition in an original and unique manner.

The projects will be evaluated by a prestigious panel made up of Gilda Bojardi, Piero Lissoni, Fulvio Irace, Luciano Galimberti, and a representative of UnipolSai according to criteria such as creativity, functionality, degree of research, and experimentation on materials and surface finishes along with replicability, cost, and simplicity of production. Particular importance will be placed on the ability of each time to define and anticipate innovative and contemporary use scenarios in continuation of or breaking with historic Italian design.

UnipolSai will create a 1:1 scale prototype of all the projects presented, exhibiting them in Velasca Tower for the final awards on June 30, 2016. The three winners selected will receive a scholarship of €10,000, €8,000, and €5,000.