Italian design

So here is Italy, walking away with the industry prize for the automatic espresso coffee machine designed by Vittorio Bertazzoni, Matteo Bazzicalupo and Raffella Mangiarotti for the Emilian company Smeg and ranking second among the 'emerging' companies with the Brescia-based producer of Jarsty, an all-in-one magic box for cooking, storing food for several days and transporting it.

Italy, walking away with the industry prize for the automatic espresso coffee machine designed by Vittorio Bertazzoni, Matteo Bazzicalupo and Raffella Mangiarotti for the Emilian company Smeg and ranking second among the 'emerging' companies with the Brescia-based producer of Jarsty, is an all-in-one magic box for cooking, storing food for several days and transporting it

The ceremony is buzzing and the audience looks chic, as required by the dress code (at the welcome party held the night before at the Museo della Comunicazione, cocktail attire was mandatory)

The projects are presented on stage by the two presenters while the designers cheer for each other in a more community-like than competitive atmosphere. Before arriving in the hall, we join in the delightful chaos of the bar at the Marriot hotel, where we meet  Giuseppe Maurizio Scutellà, from whose pen and paper Jarsty was born. We dig deep and discover a special story that inspires those with unfulfilled dreams to achieve them.

'Up until the age of 45, I was doing other things with my life. I worked in a homeware company in my hometown of Lumezzane, in the province of Brescia. But I have always designed, my first memory is me as a three-year-old kid drawing on a notepad'.  He gladly spends his spare time designing lamps: 'When I come up with a beautiful one, too beautiful to hang on to, I decide to send it to a major company. First they say “we’re not interested” and then “we’re interested”. I thought it was a joke but it actually became one of the best-selling and award-winning products. I resigned from my job and began a new life. I always travel with a notepad: by the time I have jotted down one element of an idea, I've already come up with everything else. My studio is at home, with my wife and our Jack Russell. I am lucky: few designers work solely as designers. Everyone's inner happiness comes out eventually and I, for one, could wish for nothing more'.

Raffaella Mangiarotti’s bright eyes also express happiness. It begins with the design of the coffee machine and goes beyond that. 'It might look vintage but it isn’t, because vintage is too much, it ends up looking old and worn, and few people like it. People want to live in their own time period but with a touch of underlying memory. Ours is a modern-day product that holds memory.

What makes Italian design different? This is something that foreigners understand much more than we do. It is empathetic, communicates and, therefore, easy to use. It's soft and sweet.' 'The pastel colors are reminiscent of the 1950s,' explains Matteo Bazzicalupo, 'but this fully automatic machine is of our time even - though it wishes to last a long time by becoming a household item'. 

Only 26% of patents belong to female designers

Only 26% of patents belong to female designers — it is announced during the final — in which the representative of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Angelika Schlunck, also participates. In Germany, design is first and foremost an idea to be treasured. From electric boat motors, to lightweight and ingenious chairs and desks, to even a colorful zigzag climbing wall, the round of applause is for only one woman. The first to win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the fourth DesignEuropa Awards.

It's Maria Benktzon, a 77-year-old Swede with her hair in a braid and wearing a black dress. She traveled here from her beautiful country home surrounded by fields of yellow flowers, the ones that are depicted in the film presenting her. She invented the drip-free coffee pot and the first angled knife, her work is exhibited at the MoMA, but most of all she is admired because, for many decades, she has put her creativity to use to help people with disabilities. Cell phones are whipped out to film her speech. She explains how much talking to doctors and psychologists has helped her work. She emphasizes how important it is to choose sustainable materials, to respect the environment and to be slow and work in team when inventing. And above all, she has a message for her younger colleagues. Short, but powerful. 'It's your turn to change the world with design. We need you to change the world'.