NABA Design Award 2023: see the 10 winning projects of the fifth edition

During the NABA Design Award 2023‘s ceremony held at AriAnteo Chiostro dell’Incoronata in Milan, and streamed live on NABA’s YouTube channel, several categories were recognized for NABA Design Award 2023, in addition to the Best Project of the Year and the Jury Prize.

The winners in each category were selected by a jury composed of industry professionals, including Luciana Maiorano (Head – Archiproducts Milano), Laura Traldi (journalist and NABA lecturer), and Lorenzo Damiani (Founder and Designer – Lorenzo Damiani Design Studio).

The Best Project of the Year is “Niente da vedere” by Chethra Iotti, Matilde Martegani, and Andrea Motta. The project stems from the need to highlight a paradox in the Giambellino neighborhood of Milan: vacant homes amidst a housing crisis.

The intervention involves emphasizing the bricked-up/laminated windows, making them visible through various installations placed in key locations. The project aims to raise awareness, offer hope, and stimulate a profound understanding of the political and social significance of the situation.

The Jury Prize, aimed at recognizing the research-oriented design approach, goes to “UP” by Lucrezia Bellandi, Niccolò Binotto, and Giuseppe Caputo. The project explores the balloon as a versatile tool, leveraging its elastic, plastic, and sustainable qualities.

UP is a kit that allows users to create a unique lighting fixture through a simple technique. The forms of the fixture are partly random, determined by inflating a balloon and connecting it to a light source using a clever interlocking system. The result is a colorful and ever-changing lamp.

The winners of all the other categories, who have demonstrated exceptional execution and showcased their skills in interpreting the chosen theme, are:

Interior Project – Bachelor’s Degree: “Artists Escape” by Jude Badih and Nino Digiuseppe, who designed a temporary artistic residence, a refuge nestled in Latvian nature, for two families, with at least one member being a painter.

The project aims to provide both families with inspirational workspaces, private areas for solitude, and spaces for sharing and socializing.

Product Project – Bachelor’s Degree: “Co-Essere” by Dana Berro, Cagla Enginer, and Maria Vittoria Zini.

A lamp symbolizing reflection, connection, and sensuality, designed to be easily installed in any space and adjustable to various ceiling heights.

Interior Project – Master’s Degree: “Reversed Theatre” by Olga Garanina and Elise Walseth Krogenes. Inspired by the history of squares as theaters and cinemas, the project proposes a new way of experiencing performing arts by transforming an outdoor environment into an indoor space.

A reverse theater, capable of completely transforming Piazza Liberty in Milan.

Product and Service Project – Master’s Degree: “Jam” by Melda Çevikel, Thanat Juengprasert, Sofia Monchieri, and Junrao Wang.

A modular sofa made up of assembleable components, designed to cater to different scenarios: a couple seeking furniture that grows with them, professionals needing to transform their home into an office, and students living in small spaces seeking flexible solutions.

Social Project – Master’s Degree: “Sistema Meteoropatico” by Martina Petiti and Marta Prati. Starting from a critique of energy consumerism, this open-source project utilizes renewable sources to sustain itself, aiming to realign the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature.

It envisions a future where people exchange renewable energies based on their needs and possibilities, with a condominium model integrated into a library.

Photography: “MDW: Milano Design Week 2022 Report” by Michelangelo Carraretto, Sofia D’Andrea, Paolo De Castiglioni, Gjergji Gjoka, Alessandro Luciani, Brinda Sharma, and Oliwia Syroczynska.

MDW 2022 is an online magazine that collects articles produced by the Design Area students during the History of Design II course in the 2021/22 academic year. A project coordinated by Massimo Martignoni.

Drawing: “Ritratto da un algoritmo” by Gianni Iraci. “Draw me a portrait.” This statement was executed by artificial intelligence, and the artwork was visualized through the perspective and human thought, but with a computerized view, using the Gephi software.

It represents not only intelligence in terms of computational abilities or knowledge of abstract data but an organism capable of understanding and deciding actions in a vision where machines and humans coexist.

Technique, Materials, and Innovation: “Marsiglia wood” by Fenia Capobianco, Francesco Pio Carpentiere, and Debora Di Pinto. The project is the result of research on sustainable and subtractive workable materials in laboratories, combining Marseille soap with wood powder derived from processing waste. Depending on the ratio between the two materials, it exhibits different characteristics.

The composite is malleable and durable, allowing for the creation of fairly defined prototypes and samples. At the end of its life, the material can be melted and reworked countless times.

Bachelor’s Degree Interior Thesis: “SEAM Sea Memory Museum” by Giulia Colombo. SEAM is an open and widespread memorial museum that prompts reflection on the open wound witnessed by the Mediterranean: the deaths associated with the migration phenomenon.

Envisioned in a structure born from a project by Matt+Fiona, the flexible interior design can accommodate testimonials of contemporary tragedy.

Bachelor’s Degree Product Thesis: “LAUR” by Martina Locatelli. LAUR aims to preserve the freshness of meat, isolating it from possible condensation liquids, while also indicating the freshness status to the user. With a pH tag, LAUR can detect any gaseous impurities that alter the initial color, communicating the inedibility of the preserved meat.

Master’s Degree Interior Thesis: “Una nuova vita per l’ex Colonia Marina di Cagliari” by Laura Usai. The project seeks to breathe new life into the Cagliari building and return it to its original use as a Marine Colony.

Drawing from historical, architectural, landscape, and pedagogical research, the building structure is reinterpreted to fulfill its function once again.

Master’s Degree Product and Service Thesis: “Peso, la conseguenza” by Michela Panizza. The project aims to raise awareness of the “weight” we are leaving on our planet due to the pandemic. 1.55 billion is the number of disposable masks used in just one year, which are made of 95% recyclable thermoplastic PP.

As the world begins to bear too much weight due to our daily actions, Peso seeks to raise awareness about recycling.

Once again this year, the finalist projects from the students, born from the creativity and educational experience of the academy’s top students, have been gathered in a catalog curated by Claudio Larcher with graphic design by Atto. The catalog captures free and open reflections on the various aspects of contemporary design and offers perspectives on future scenarios.