LIGHTHOUSE INTERIOR

Manuel Aires MateusLisboaSavin CouëllePorto CervoClemente Busiri ViciRomeKen EastmanLondonMartino GamperLondonAlberto BassiVenicePaolo RomaniCasalgrande

JURY

CASH PRIZE 10.000 €+ REALIZATION

GRUPPO ROMANICERAMICA CERASARDA20 FEB 2017 > 31 MAY 2017

COMPANYCERASARDAGRUPPO ROMANI

FIELDCERAMIC DESIGN

GOALINTERIOR DESIGN

TARGETDESIGNERS /ARTISTS /STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION

CODE (competitions for designers) is a platform for the promotion of design competitions. Its purpose is to foster the culture of design and creativity, by turning the constant demand for innovation from many stakeholders into contests that give designers the opportunity to show their talent. Such a virtuous circle can safeguard the value of design projects and offer answers that perfectly meet the creative needs of companies. So CODE aims at becoming a pre-stigious meeting point for talented designers and teams of experts, where the importance of creative work and the potential of design in today’s society can be stressed.

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From Iberian Peninsula, passing through Americas, un-til Asian shores, designers and businesspeople have re-cently started to focus their attention on lighthouses. In the era of GPS, sonar and automatic navigation, a num-ber of signal towers have lost their original significance, being abandoned and turning into ruins. They stand as relics of a bygone era, now waiting to be rediscovered and re-used in a more contemporary fashion.

To this end, a number of projects, both private and public, have been put forward, which aim to renovate lighthou-ses for the opening of new, unparalleled accommodation facilities. The old coastal buildings stand, majestic and isolated, in breathtaking landscapes that are perfect lo-cations for unforgettable holidays and ideal destinations for the most discerning and demanding of tourists.

Following this trend, Gruppo Romani, which has led the industry of top-quality ceramics production for decades, has launched Lighthouse Interior, a competition for the creation of a new collection of furnishing accessories and pottery, drawing inspiration from the myth of lighthouses and coastal towers to create new products of exquisite

BRIEFelegance, conceived for this new network of accommo-dation facilities, as well as for seaside tourism in general.

The new collection will be an extension of Cerasarda Ate-lier, a brand established in the 1960s at the dawn of the myth of the Costa Smeralda, and now open to the latest trend of seaside and niche tourism: lighthouses. The competition will create a new line of products which will contribute to memorable holidays enjoyed in unspoiled nature and in the shadow of of the old signal towers.

The collection that Gruppo Romani aims to create for Cerasarda Atelier will have to be evocative of relax, of holidays at the end of the world, lulled by the roar of the waves and the cries of the seagulls. It will have to tell a story of holidays in a timeless dimension, blue skies and windy shores, deep silence and solitary towers.

Gruppo Romani has launched an exciting challenge that emphasizes the charm of remote places and wild nature, so as to create objects that will be symbols of style and elegance and will become an ideal line of products for the suites of any luxury hotel with a view of the sea.

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The object of the competition is a design for furnishing ac-cessories that will form a specific collection of the Cerasarda Atelier brand, inspired by the myth of lighthouses, and tar-geted at the suites of a number of accommodation facilities, located mainly on the coast. The information below provides the designers with precise cultural references about the history of Gruppo Romani and of the Cerasarda brand. The features of the items of the new collection and some of their possible applications (suites, lighthouses) are also described below.

- Gruppo Romani S.p.A.; founded in 1968 as Ceramiche Se-renissima, Gruppo Romani is an example of authentic Italian entrepreneurship. Passion, competence and technological research were the values that inspired the success story of the group, which currently employs over 400 people and is still true to those values, preserving the same dedication to product quality and the same care for the individual’s well-being. That is the key feature of Gruppo Romani: the awa-reness that a firm’s history is a history of people, and that there is no entrepreneurship without true commitment. Its manufacturing history has a major artisanal component, it is a stratification of events and people who, building on their original experiences, preserve and bring into the future the prestige of one of the most popular and elegant Italian brands worldwide.

- Cerasarda: back in the 1960s, the wonders of the Costa Smeralda ravished prince Karim al-Husayni Aga Khan IV. Aga Khan, who had studied in Geneva and held a degree from Harvard, immediately realized the immense potential of this hidden gem of Italy, with its extraordinary beauty and its timeless charm, and applied his genius and financial re-sources to a complex process that was to turn those places into an ideal destination for the most glamorous and exclusi-ve form of tourism. The airline company Meridiana (originally called Alisarda) and the airport of Olbia, which is still the main

PROGRAMinternational airport in Sardinia, first came around. Then the construction of Porto Cervo began, which the prince entru-sted to three famous architects of the time: Jacques Couëlle, Michele Busiri-Vici and Luigi Vitti. The three architects de-fined what has been called “Mediterranean architecture”, a style based on the use of plastic materials, simple but mas-sive. The rise of the Costa Smeralda had begun. The myth of unforgettable holidays, in absolute luxury, surrounded by breathtaking landscapes, was then established. That is the myth of Porto Cervo, of the elegant yachts, of fashionable houses and blue seas, the epitome of luxury. That was also the cradle of Cerasarda, a brand conceived to create cerami-cs for these places and these houses. Founded by Aga Khan himself and purchased by Romani in 2002, Cerasarda is still a symbol of unforgettable holidays, suspended between the sea and the sky, characterised by glossy enamel and bright colours. Cerasarda, the pride of Romani, currently compri-ses three sections:

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a. CERASARDA LAB; it is the “container” of ceramics from the Costa Smeralda. Since its foundation in 1963 it has garnered recognition on the international market for its style, its materials and its decorations with a unique and exclusive Mediterranean look.

b. CERASARDA DESIGN; offering ceramics for interiors and exteriors, this section is the natural extension of Cera-sarda, developing new projects that combine Cerasarda’s history with the latest trends in the world of design.

c. CERASARDA ATELIER (object of the current competi-tion) is the “container” of furnishing accessories.

- object; the object of the competition is a design for at le-ast 3 items amongst the furnishing accessories and pieces of pottery listed below. However, the designers may propose further accessories different from the types described below:

a. the object of the competition may be: vases, contai-ners, ornamental plates, light sets, table sets, ornaments, ceramic surfaces for floors or walls;

b. the objects must be made of ceramic, in part or enti-rely;

- intended use; the two facilities described below exemplify the facilities to which Lighthouse Interior refers. The infor-mation below will help the designers to visualize the spaces where the objects of the new collection can be located and to propose suitable items for the new Cerasarda collection.

a. Lighthouse at Capo Spartivento, Chia (Cagliari); this was the first Italian lighthouse to turn into a hotel; it was built by the Italian Navy on the orders of king Victor Emmanuel II (the last king of Sardinia and the first king of Italy). Bombar-ded during World War II, the lighthouse was abandoned in the 1980s, until it came back to life in 2014 as an international tourist destination. Attention for details and an emphasis on

high quality are the key features of the lighthouse, where the interplay between contemporary furniture and precious an-tique items enraptures the visitors and conjures up images and memories of far-away places and remote lands. In per-fect harmony between nature and architecture, the lighthou-se at Capo Spartivento is a symbol of the rediscovery of old signal towers, a shining example for the collection that Ce-rasarda Atelier intends to create. www.farocapospartivento.com

b. Suites of Aeroviaggi Club: Aeroviaggi, the main tour operator for Sicily and Sardinia, manages over ten hotels in Italy, all located in wonderful landscapes and mostly organi-sed as clubs. Blue seas and velvety beaches make for per-fect holidays alongside a number of activities and facilities, with an emphasis on sustainability and on families. With its innovative and perfectly integrated services, Aeroviaggi plays a major role in the world of European tourism and is an inte-resting target for a collection, such as the one that Cerasarda intends to create, which is inspired by the myth of lighthouse while remaining open to the world of seaside tourism in ge-neral. www.aeroviaggi.it

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CALENDAR PRIZES SUBSCRIPTION20/02/2017 “early bird” registration – start

27/03/2017 (h 11.59 p.m. GMT) “early bird” registration – end

28/03/2017 “standard” registration – start

25/04/2017 (h 11.59 p.m. GMT)“standard” registration – end

26/04/2017 “late” registration – start

24/05/2017 (h 11.59 p.m. GMT) “late” registration – end

31/05/2017 (h. 12.00 p.m. – midday - GMT) material submission deadline

01/06/2017jury summoning

03/07/2017results announcement

Fulfilling an “early bird”, “standard” or “late” registration does not affect submission deadline. Submission deadli-ne is uniquely set on the 31/05/2017.

1° PRIZE5.000 € + REALIZATION

2° PRIZE2.000 €

3° PRIZE1.000 €

HONORABLE MENTIONS “GOLD”500 €

HONORABLE MENTIONS “GOLD”500 €

HONORABLE MENTIONS “GOLD”500 €

HONORABLE MENTIONS “GOLD”500 €

10 HONORABLE MENTIONS

30 FINALISTS

The whole procedure is computerized:- open: www.competitionsfordesigners.com;- enter registration area;- fill required fields;- at the end of the procedure the first member of the team will be notified with a validation mail containing the team ID number (“teamID” is randomly and automatically assi-gned); if no mail arrives check “spam”;- a username, a password and a link will be received; open the link to confirm the preregistration;- once confirmed the pre-registration, enter personal area and fulfill fee payment; the reason of currency pay-ment operation will be: “design_LI_teamID” (i.e. if teamID is 123, reason of currency payment operation will be “de-sign_LI_123”);- once fulfilled pre-registration and fee payment, uploa-ding will be enabled;- open personal area, insert username and password; upload the material; the first member of the team will be notified with a validation mail; if no mail arrives check “spam”.

It’s highly recommended to be early on deadlines with subscriptions and payments.

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FAQ RULES INELIGIBILITY

MATERIAL

During the whole contest, until 31/05/2017 - submission de-adline – competitors can address any kind of question by wri-ting to the e-mail address on the website: code@competition-sfordesigners.com. The staff of the promoter will individually answer the competitors by e-mail and will weekly publish updates in the “FAQ” section of the competition website. An-swers will be published in English and updated on facebook and twitter. Surely, the staff of the promoter will be providing technical support in case of technical and functional problems during the upload procedure.

n. 1 A2 layout (594 mm x 420 mm) in .pdf format, maximum size 10 mb, horizontal or vertical layout, to be uploaded on the personal login area. Such layout must contain:

a. design concept / conceptual idea;b. graphic framework aimed to illustrate the project (i.e. plans, fa-cades, cross-sections)–choosing what to display and the relative scale is up to competitor’s choice;c. 3d views - i.e. renderings, pictures, hand sketches;

File name: A2_<TeamID>_ LI.pdf (es. if “TeamID” is 123 , file must be named A2_123_ LI.pdf)

Text shall be synthetic and written in English. Layouts cannot con-tain any name or reference to designers. Layouts cannot have nor group’s “TeamID” on it. Such code is meant to appear on the file-name only, since jury will not be capable of seeing it during voting procedure.

1. Competitors must respect calendar dates and procedures, re-gistrations and fees;2. Competitors must respect all the instructions regarding the re-quired project work;3. Competitors can be students, graduated, freelancers; it is not compulsory to be experts in design disciplines or to be affiliated to professional associations;4. Competitors can join the competition in teams;5. Teams can be composed by any number of team members;6. Team’s members can belong to different countries, cities and universities;7.The competitors must be at least 18;8. One registration fee only allows to upload one project;9. It is possible to upload more than one project paying more than one registration fee. Such fees depend on the calendar of the competition;10. Prizes are established regardless of the number of attendants that a team is made up of,11. The suitability of the projects will be assessed by a technical staff nominated by GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A.;12. Jury’s verdict cannot be questioned;13. It is forbidden to competitors to contact a juror about the com-petition;14. It is forbidden to competitors to spread their own proposal ma-terial before the winner of the competition is chosen;15. It is forbidden to competitors to join the competition in case they have or had business collaboration or blood-relations with jurors;16. By violating the rules of the competition, the competitor and his/her team will be disqualified from the competition without any chance of getting a refund;17. The authorship of each project is equally attributed to each member of the team;18. Joining the competition implies accepting rules and terms and conditions of the competition.

1. layouts showing texts bodies not written in Italian or in English will be banned;2. layouts showing names or referrals to their own team / their identity will be banned; TeamID can appear on the file name only, since jurors will not be allowed to see it;3. files named not by following the prescriptions of the chap-ter “MATERIAL” will be banned;4. material which is considered incomplete, partial or non congruent to the criteria set in the chapter “MATERIAL” will be banned;5. material which is submitted not by following calendar, deadlines and correct uploading procedures will be banned;6. team members trying to ask a juror about the competi-tion will disqualify their own team;7. team members who have or had business collaboration or blood-relations with jurors will be disqualified;8. team members who publicizes their own proposal material before the conclusion of the competition will be disqualified.

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NOTES1. All the projects by the winners of the cash prize shall be purchased by GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A., which shall acquire perpetual, exclusive, internationally valid, permanent, unli-mited and irrevocable license to use, realize, adapt, modify, publish the project on any media channel, exhibit, reproduce and distribute the project, even for marketing and promo-tional purposes; to carry out reviews for publication, create derivative works based on it, as well as to grant the project, or parts thereof, in sub-license to third parties, in whichever mode, form or technology.2.The winners oblige themselves to support GRUPPO RO-MANI S.p.A., as well as possible suppliers thereof, in reali-zing the installation, by submitting, if necessary, additional documents or information.3. The promoter and GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A. have the ri-ghts to publish and exhibit all the uploaded projects.4. Projects must be new and original and the result of the intellectual activity of the candidates who cannot present works that does not comply with these aspects. For this re-ason, the promoter and GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A. will not be responsible in case the uploaded projects are not the result of the candidate’s or teams’ creativity or if the candidate or teams are not the owner of the right of exploitation including the right to take part in a competition like this one.5. The available and necessary material for the competition is available in the download section of the competition site www.competitionsfordesigners.com regardless of registra-tion in the competition; it is allowed to use additional mate-rial collected by each member.6. The promoter has the right to change dates or other de-tails in order to improve or fix aspects of the competition, a notice will be given within a reasonable time through all the promoter ‘s media channels.7. The promoter is not responsible for any malfunctioning or technical difficulties related to material upload. Candidates are invited to complete registration and uploading procedu-res before the deadlines; please report technical difficulties

via e-mail.8. The processing of the personal data of the candidates is carried out by automated and manual means by GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A. and the promoter, strictly for the purposes of the contest and under Legislative Decree No. 196/03 and subsequent amendments. GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A. and the promoter will act as independent holders of such data. Pro-viding personal data is optional; failure to provide them will however prevent access to the competition.9. This competition is not an event in accordance with Article 6 of the Italian D.P.R. 430/2001.10. Candidates will be held accountable for the personal data they provide and the promoter does not assume any respon-sibility for wrong data provided. The promoter, according to privacy policies, has the right to verify candidates’ data by re-questing a copy of an identity document regarding the data of the registration.11. The promoter and GRUPPO ROMANI S.p.A. are not re-sponsible for false data provision by candidates.12. By entering the competition, the candidates accept the competition’s terms and conditions.13. Italian law regulates this regulation. Controversy arising shall be of exclusive competence of the Court of Bologna.

Clemente Busiri ViciRome

Ken EastmanLondon

Martino GamperLondon

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Savin CouëllePorto Cervo

Manuel Aires MateusLisboa

photo credit: Angus Mill

Born in 1960, Ken Eastman attended the prestigious Royal College of Art in Lon-don, where he perfected his skills in ceramics working and devoted himself, in particular, to vase making. He was awarded the “Premio Faenza” in 1995 and won the golden medal at the 1st World Ceramic Exposition 2001 Korea. In 2003 he was appointed member of the International Academy of Ceramics, and his works are currently on display in a number of museums and international exhibitions, such as the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, the Museum of Fine Arts in Hou-ston, USA, the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, the Museum Boijmans van Beu-ningen in Rotterdam, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Montréal, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. He also gives lectures at a number of universities worldwide.

He graduated in architecture from La Sapienza University of Rome. Architect Cle-mente Busiri Vici Jr. (born in 1961) followed in the footsteps of his old family tra-dition. He developed an original style, combining tradition with innovation, utmost attention to details with exquisite taste, especially in interior design and renova-tions. As well as renovating a number of important buildings in Rome, he designed the Casale in Todi, the ville at the Argentario, the project of exterior and interior design of the sailing ship “Wizard” and a number of projects in London and Tel Aviv.

Born in 1929, Savin Couëlle graduated in Architecture from the prestigious École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts of Paris, while designing at the same time poet Jacques Prévert’s apartment. He was art director Georges Wakhévitch’s assistant in Spain and worked for well-known American and European film pro-ductions such as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”. In 1962 he joined his father Jac-ques, an architect himself, to design the Cala di Volpe hotel in the Costa Smeralda. He never left Sardinia since then, although he participated in a number of projects worldwide, and developed a style that created a harmonious balance between in-teriors and interiors, architecture and sculpture.

He graduates in Lisbon at the F.A./U.T.L. He has been collaborating with the archi-tect Goncalo Byrne since 1983 and with Francisco Aires Mateus since 1988. He is a professor in various schools: the Harvard Graduate School of Design, the Archi-tecture faculty of Ljubljana, the Architecture Academy of Mendrisio, The Autónoma University of Lisbon and the Lusiada University of Lisbon. He holds seminars and conferences all over the world. The Brothers Mateus deal mainly with the topic of the detached houses with refinement and mastery aiming the lightness of the masses by digging the matter. Their intense and award-winning activity includes the Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum at Cascais (finalist project for the Mies van der Rohe Award 2009 and awarded with the special Mention Award Fad 2008), the cultural Center at Sines (winner of the Enor Award 2006 and the Contract World Award 2007), the House of Azeitão (winner of the first prize Residencia Singular 2004), the House of Alenquer, the base of the rector’s office of the Universidade Nova of Lisbon (winner of the Valmor award 2002), the student house of the Uni-versity of Coimbra (winner of the first prize at the Ibero- American Biennale of architecture 2001 and the Luigi Cosenza award 2001).

Born in 1971, he is an Italian designer and artist currently living in London. He was a student of Michelangelo Pistoletto at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and obtained a master’s degree from the Royal College of Art of London in 2000. Gamper, who is working on a number of interior design projects, rose to interna-tional fame for “100 Chairs in 100 Days”, a collection of unused chairs which were redesigned in a number of different combinations, presented in London in 2007 and exhibited at the Triennale in Milan and at the YBCA in San Francisco, which earned him the “Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Furniture Award” in 2008. A number of exhibitions worldwide are dedicated to his works, “Wouldn’t it be Nice… Wishful Thinking in Art & Design” at the Centre d’Art Contemporain in Geneva in 2007, “Bench Years” at the V&A Museum in London in 2012, “Tu casa, mi casa” at the Modern Institute in Glasgow in 2013 and “Design is a state of mind” at the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London in 2014.

JURY

Paolo RomaniCasalgrande

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Alberto BassiVenice

Paolo Romani was born on February 1, 1965 in Reggio Emilia. His parents were Cavaliere Lamberto Romani and Alba Maria Spadazzi, the founders of Ceramica Serenissima S.p.A., and his brother is Giorgio Romani, current chair of Gruppo Romani S.p.A. Industrie Ceramiche. He graduated in 1991 in Political Sciences from the University of Bologna. In 1993 he started participating in the financial management of the recently purchased Ceramica Cir S.p.A., a leading firm in the production of small-scale, high-quality ceramics finishes. After purchasing Cera-sarda S.p.A. (2002), Ceramiche Cercom (2005) and Isla Tiles (2012), the Romani family decided to change the corporate name into Gruppo Romani S.p.A.. Paolo Romani became CEO of the new company.

Alberto Bassi is an expert of history and criticism of design and is a professor at the Iuav University of Venice, where he coordinated the international project IP Obser-vatoire Européen de l’objet from 2004 to 2008. He carries out research activities for a number of institutions, both private and public, producing publications and orga-nizing both permanent and temporary exhibitions. From 2005 to 2007 he edited Adi Design Index, a preparatory volume to the selection of the Compasso d’Oro-ADI prize and he followed the organization of a number of project and business archi-ves. He worked, among others, with the Isec Foundation, the Museum of Industry and Labour of Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), the Museimpresa Association and the Archive of Modern of Mendrisio. He is the author of a number of books, such as Design anonimo in Italia. Oggetti comuni e progetto incognito (Electa, 2007); De-sign. Progettare gli oggetti della vita quotidiana (Il Mulino, 2013); Food design in Italia. Il progetto del prodotto alimentare (Electa, 2015) and currently writes for specialized journals and newspapers.

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CERASARDA

“La Ceramica della Costa Smeralda” was founded in 1963 in Olbia at the behest of Prince Karim Aga Khan. The bri-ght colours of its glazes and the refined decorations of its artistic ceramics, local production and design of the highest level are traits that have contributed to the inter-national reputation of the Costa Smeralda as a glamorous dream holiday location. Pathos translates into architectu-ral design elegance and luxury of the highest level, the mark of a location which has become a legend. In 2002 Cerasarda joined the Group with its refined and exclusive floor and wall claddings in glazed terracotta, bringing all the elegance of the Mediterranean to the world, born from the encounter between craftsmanship, culture and tech-nological development, which evolves every day to become contemporary and enjoyable, without ever losing the inner strength of its origins.

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