The brand produces the prize trophy, a brass Möbius strip by MUT Design
De Castelli continues its partnership with the Archiproducts Design Awards. As for the 2019 edition of the ADA, the brand from Treviso produces the prize trophy that will go to the winning brands. This special partnership stirs much enthusiasm also in 2020.
Conceived by MUT Design, the actual prize trophy is a sculptural object inspired by the Möbius strip: a metal sheet folded on itself to obtain a figure that shows the award logo. In its simplicity, this object represents the importance of the relationship between brand and designer: two distinct surfaces that become one side and border.
The trophy in Limited Edition was manufactured at De Castelli’s Metal Projects Factory, located at Crocetta del Montello (Treviso), which hosts the company’s workshops, as well as an extensive materials library. Archiproducts was given access and has documented the different working phases in this video.
While the 2019 prize trophy was made of 3 different metals – brass, copper and steel – with the unique DeLabré finish, this year’s version will exclusively be made of brass, perhaps the most mutable among De Castelli’s premium materials. From its infinite shades the brand has created glossy, satin, brushed and relief finishes.
The DeLabré finish is the result of a purposefully induced oxidation process that allows for a subtle chromatic effect that is derived from cloud-like stains in various shades. The long and complex manufacturing process plays with multiple oxidation layers and exploits the full potential of a material never equal to itself.
The original template, drawn by Spanish designers Alberto Sánchez and Eduardo Villalón, shows an object consisting of two surfaces without a dividing line, merging into one in a play of light and shadow, of filled and empty spaces.
“The möbius strip turns everything upside down. Outside and inside are no longer discernible. Following a sinuous course and meandering over a two-dimensional surface the eyes return to the very spot from where they started. That is how we imagined the prize trophy, as an inherently seamless object: a single sheet of metal that depicts the principle idea of the awards.”
