The Salão Design Award, the major Brazilian furniture design award, has announced the selection of 104 projects for the final phase of this edition. Over the past two weeks, technical and functional judges evaluated one by one the 827 projects entered by students and professionals from nine countries. The entries approved are from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.

This first group of judges consisted of academics and design professionals. They were in charge of  analyzing the technical conditions of the entries in addition to features like safety, materials used, production viability and sustainability. This group included the technical director at Centro Brasil Design, Ana Brum;  teacher Maria Cecilia Loschiavo dos Santos; the head designer of Grupo  K1,  Mateus Conceição; the technical and technological services analyst of SENAI Institute of Wood and Furniture Technology, Ricardo Dal Piva, Technical; and Silvana Carminati Heckman, president of the Brazilian Association of Interior Designers.

In this edition, as there were no categories for accessories and lighting, only furniture projects could be entered. The five categories are called challenges: Spaces in transformation challenge; 2020 Brazilian identity challenge; Panel use challenge; Embedded technology challenge and Positivist experience challenge. The traditional awards that are still given include the Master Teacher trophy for the students’ best products and also the Alternative Woods Award, the latter in partnership with the Brazilian Forest Service, which recognizes the use of woods that are not widely used.

Final phase of the selection                                

In the final phase of the selection, held in January 2020, the finalists will send their full-size products to the city of Bento Gonçalves, where the organizer of the Salão Design Award, Sindmóveis, is headquartered.

A new group of creative / aesthetic judges will be in charge of choosing the winners, namely critic, historian and design curator Adélia Borges;  architect, designer and cabinetmaker Fernando Mendes; award-winning designer, jury of numerous competitions, author and translator Freddy Van Camp; artist and designer Heloísa Crocco; the content director of Casa Vogue Taissa Buescu.

Sponsored by Berneck and Interprint do Brasil, the Salão Design Award has been organized by the Furniture Industry Association of Bento Gonçalves (Sindmóveis) since 1988. In this edition, the award will consist of R$ 10.000 for professionals and R$ 6.000 for students. The award ceremony and product exhibition will take place at Movelsul Brasil, in March 2020, in Bento Gonçalves. The winners will also participate in another exhibition next year, during the São Paulo Design Weekend.

For more information about the finalists, visit www.salaodesign.com.br/blog.

>> SCHEDULE

Delivery of products for the final phase: January 15, 16 and 17, 2020 - 9 am to 11.30 am and  1.30 pm to 5 pm

Final phase of the selection: January 27 and 28, 2020

Announcement of the award winners: February 10, 2020

Exhibition of the award winners and honorable mentions: Movelsul Brasil 2020, March 16 – 19, 2020 in Bento Gonçalves

Award ceremony: March 18, 2020 in Bento Gonçalves

Second exhibition of the award winners: São Paulo Design Weekend, August 2020

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