Investigate the current era and look ahead with knowledge of the past
While submissions to the Archiproducts Design Awards 2021 are now closed, our weekly appointments with jury members continue. In anticipation of discovering the winners of the annual Archiproducts awards, we interviewed Italian designer Diego Grandion the ADA jury since 2018.
Interview with Diego Grandi on the 2021 Archiproducts Design Awards jury
What do you expect from the entries, and what features should the winning products have?
I would like to find a cross-pollination of languages in line with contemporary needs, attention to detail and sustainability, both technically and conceptually.
I will be most interested in entries that work on unexpected solutions to problems.
How should contemporary design evolve to meet the needs of the community?
Design has to solve everyday needs. The right direction is to investigate the current era and look ahead with knowledge of the past.
In the post-pandemic era, how can design define a ‘new normal’?
Through a process based on an open, agile and flexible approach. Facing spatial, social and economic needs that include careful and timely practice.
How do you think the pandemic has affected design?
We have radically changed how we see objects and spaces by placing them in unexpected relationships in order to respond to emerging needs. I think there is no better time than now for designers to face the world of design.
About Diego Grandi
Diego Grandi lives and works in Milan, where he founded DGO_Diego Grandi Office in 2002. The design studio works in the fields of product design, interiors and design consultancy. In addition to his work as a designer, Grandi teaches at universities and design schools.
His projects have been selected for international events, exhibitions and awards, including the Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum, the Design Plus Award and the Red Dot Design Award. In 2016, two of his projects, Closer, a mobile shower system, and Type 32, a decorative ceramic alphabet, won an Honourable Mention at the XXIV Compasso d’Oro.
Among the companies that he collaborates with and for whom he has designed are: Abet Laminati, Brunello Cucinelli, Casamania, Cassina, Fritz Hansen, Lea Ceramiche, Rosenthal Sambonet, Salvatore Ferragamo, Skitsch, VitrA and Zucchetti.
The call for entries for the Archiproducts Design Awards 2021 is now closed.
Over the next few days, the jurors will evaluate all the submissions to the Archiproducts Design Award‘s sixth edition with the aim of rewarding innovative, ethical and sustainable design.
The jury’s vote will lead to the definition of an initial Longlist, a selection of the proposals that will enter the Award’s final phase.
The winners, selected from the longlist, will be announced during the first week of November.
Closer by Diego Grandi for Zucchetti