The judging panel of the Salão Design Award approved 139 projects out of  750 entries for the final phase of the award, when the finalists will send to Bento Gonçalves their products or life-size prototypes. Promoted since 1988 by Sindmóveis Bento Gonçalves and sponsored by Berneck, Salão Design is considered the leading product design award in Latin America.

The prize combines creativity and technological innovation with furniture and accessories through design. The 20th Salão Design will be grant R$ 205,000 in prizes in the Student, Professional and Industry classes. The judging panel consists of five renowned professionals and academics:  designers Angela Carvalho, Glaucia Binda, Gustavo Bertolini, Ivens Fontoura and Paulo Biacchi.

A newcomer to the judging panel of Salão Design Award, designer Paulo Biacchi is a partner of the design studio and brand of products for Fetish. He designs collections for brands like Tok&Stok, Florense, La Lampe, Schuster, Micasa, Schattdecor and others. Impressed by the amount of projects and diversity of ideas, the designer points out that the members of the jury are concern about assessing participants with caution. "I noticed a strong trend to value wood, not only as an option of raw material, but as a language. Many designers are producing their own series, getting their hand dirty, a joiner-designer generation," he says.

Just like in previous years, Salão Design Award received entries in seven categories: Lighting; Furniture for bedrooms; Furniture for living and dining rooms; Furniture for kitchens, laundry rooms and bathrooms; Furniture for outdoor areas; Furniture for offices and home-offices; and Home appliances. In addition to the cash prizes, the traditional Master Teacher award will be given to the advisor of the projects entered by the awarded students, and the Alternative Woods award, which rewards the best project produced from species that the Brazilian Forest Service considers as not commonly used.

The 20th Salão Design award winners will be announced in February. The winners will take part in two shows: in March, at Movelsul Brasil in 2016, and in August, at High Design - Home&Office Expo, a trade fair which will be the flagship of São Paulo Design Weekend next year.

The list of the selected products is available at www.salaodesign.com.br/blog.