One of the greatest opportunities to highlight the best of Italian industry and design is provided by the ADI Design Index with the highly anticipated annual selection.
ADI, the Italian Design Association, searches every year for innovation, quality and beauty produced by the creative genius of Italian designers and companies that support and promote the value of Made in Italy in the world.
ADI Design Index
Participation in the ADI Design Index is the main requirement to compete for the Innovation Award and the prestigious Compasso d’Oro, the oldest and most authoritative design award in the world.
The selected products, in addition to appearing in the printed catalog and on the dedicated web page, are exhibited in a series of renowned temporary exhibitions, first in Milan and then in Rome.
The review is chosen and judged by the Permanent Design Observatory, made up of 150 designers of heterogeneous skills, organized into territorial and thematic commissions and led by the scientific coordination committee.
The selection
The territorial Commissions, in addition to selecting the most deserving products among those self-nominating for the ADI Design Index, also have the function of “project hunter”: to search and identify directly in the area of competence those projects of value considered at the height of the selection.
The thematic committees (this year 13, plus the Targa giovani) then carry out a second selection. Finally, all ideas and projects are submitted to the Scientific Coordination Committee for judgment.
The Theme
The last edition was inspired by the great events of COP26 and the G20.
In perfect agreement with the inspiring principles (People, Planet, Prosperity) of the international summit held in Rome in 2021, ADI defined for the first time the theme: sustainable and responsible development.
All set in a territorial context – Italy – where creativity and love for beauty are applied to industry; “making beautiful what it is useful” is an inestimable added value that identifies the “Italian Brand”.
During the presentation event of the new edition, the President of ADI, Luciano Galimberti, invites us to look at the selection as an expression of the theme that is represented in these three words:
- freedom
- system
- quality
FREEDOM
ADI Design Index decides to treat the term freedom in an unconventional perspective: knowing how to relate, creating a system to be realized together.
As Francesco Zurlo (member of the final selection commission) wished to recall during the presentation of the ADI Design Index, freedom is participation; the expression is freely taken from a well-known song by Giorgio Gaber.
Freedom is not being on a tree, nor is it having an opinion. Freedom is not free space. Freedom is participation.
SYSTEM
The premise of ADI Design Index is giving a plausible photograph of the Italian reality through the selection.
Italian design is a systemic discipline for its nature, and it is an integral part of another complex system called life.
The system is that component of Italian design capable of harmonizing the other two elements on which the selection focuses: freedom and quality.
QUALITY
The goal of the ADI Design Index is to redefine the criteria that make up the quality of products. Quality should no longer be used as a simple indicator of production factors since this designation tends to confuse it with high prices and to associate it with the luxury sector.
The President of ADI explains – during the evening of November 14th – how the concept of quality has changed over time and how once the idea of design was linked to a limited economic value that was capable of expanding the user of reference. In the 90s a first transformation takes place, in which the luxury product begins to be awarded.
Globalization has further turned the table on the identification of a sort of parallel quality made up of content, material and research.
Qualities that have nothing to do with the concept of luxury.
Despite dealing with high-priced products, this feature should not be confused with the real requirement that leads to selection: high quality.
The news of the 2022 edition
Sustainability
Every year, the Symbola Foundation is responsible for preparing a report on the state of the art of design.
According to IPSOS data, three factors have been identified in Italy that contribute to the perception of sustainability: ethics, concern, quality. The latter represents a fundamental element: the general public believes that sustainability represents 50% of the quality of a product.
A sustainable project is therefore considered of superior quality.
Based on this analysis, ADI Design wanted to adapt to general perceptions by carrying out a small revolution within the Index Commission.
While the last edition provided for a specific Commission aimed at dealing with sustainability and judging its design impact, in the current edition we have opted for the inclusion, in each Commission, of an expert in the sector who could give a privileged point of view to each college.
Sustainability, therefore, not as an exception but as an integral part of the entire Index project.
CATEGORY: DESIGN FOR LIGHTING
Another noteworthy change is the thematic categories.
In the last three years, there has been a strong growth in participation in living sector, while other segments such as mobility and food have recorded slight decreases.
This year, moreover, for the first time, the large category of living was separated to give space to a theme that deserved to be enhanced: lighting, for which a separate category was created.
Light, in fact, is a sector capable of renewing itself at a fast pace through the continuous creation of new technologies.
Marco Sabetta, director of the Salone del Mobile, knows something about this. On this subject he wanted to recall another great thematic event: Euroluce, which this year will undergo a renewal through new display systems. Elesi Luce will participate in the exhibition with the same product selected by the Observatory – Alba – in addition to the display of other lamps that suit the innovative atmosphere of the fair.
Among the 248 products selected by the ADI Design Index 2022, 18 are included in the lighting category involving 8 territorial delegations.
Design for lighting: Alba
Winner of the Venetian Smart Lighting Award in 2022, in which it was awarded as the “best decorative lamp for contract use”, Alba achieves another authoritative result with the selection at the ADI Design Index in the “design for lighting” category.
The daily emotion
Alba is the light that draws the shape, in which the belonging signs are two primary geometric figures: the line and the circle. The line is the light source, the horizon that defines an above and a below. The circle, on the other hand, is not completed in the concrete shape but develops in space in a virtual extension.
The resulting effect recalls the solemn manifestation of light as our star rises.
A perception similar to the rising sun, an emotion that is repeated every day.
Roberto De Santi
Respect for the environment: the Led Change System
Alba is made of aluminum, because it is a heat-conducting material, light, durable as it is resistant to corrosion and recyclable.
It stands out for its high efficiency built-in LEDs with the innovative Led Change System.
What is it about exactly?
Elesi Luce, sensitive to environmental issues, has worked and designed a system that allows you to easily replace the electronic components thus giving new life to the suspension lamp.
In fact, this smart repairability requirement allows to obtain several advantages:
- quick replacement of LEDs and drivers
- extending the life cycle of the lamp
- the reduction of waste and therefore a lower environmental impact
The traditional procedure
The procedures that until now had to be followed for repairing a built-in LED lamp are known. It is a long process that often discourages people by making them opt for the purchase of a new lamp.
The first step was the uninstallation of the product for the delivery to the store which, in its turn, provides for packaging and shipping to the manufacturer. Then, after assessing the damage and repairing the lamp, the delivery back to the sender. It happens that in the repair phase some companies choose to turn to external companies, which can further increase the timing.
That’s not all: at this point the customer must contact a specialized technician who can reinstall the refurbished lamp.
The rehabilitation process of a lighting fixture can leave the customer “in the dark” even for more than 25 days and that is why very often people prefer to throw away the old to make room for the new.
With the Elesi Luce Led Change System all this remains just a bad memory.
THE REVOLUTION SIGNED BY ELESI LUCE
From now, thanks to Elesi Luce, it is possible to replace electronic components without having to wait weeks and without stress.
It will no longer be necessary to uninstall the chandelier nor to ship it anywhere.
Thanks to the innovative Led Change System it will be sufficient to contact a technician to change the built-in LED in a few simple steps.
In a short time the lamp will return to 100% of its functionality avoiding the dispersion of materials.
The Led Change System is an innovation that is advantageous not only for the end customer, but it is what can really make a difference in the increasingly indispensable system of environmental protection.
A selection we are proud of
There is a special reason to be proud to be part of the ADI Design Index selection and Laura Traldi (member of the Scientific Coordinating Committee) reminded us of it during the presentation of the ADI Design Index 2022.
Being chosen for the Index catalog means competing for a slow and collaborative prize.
The process that leads to the awarding of the Compasso d’Oro Award takes place over a period of almost a year involving many “design project hunters” that expresses a shared consent.
Elesi Luce is therefore proud to be able to represent Made in Italy design in a celebratory context of this magnitude. Follow us because we want to continue to surprise you.
