Introduction
Visitors from all over the world view every building as a renowned identity for its designers. The recognition helps any architect, designer, or even an artist to expand their work ethics around various people. The world-level organizations provide a platform to nominate prominent architects and their work with awards and an opportunity to present their work to the spectators.
Recently, in 2022 the second year of an Award for emerging designers took place under the organization of The Design Museum. With the vision to nurture the development of the design sector, Lisa Saltzman sponsored the award event to honor Ralph Saltzman.
The intent to erect the inspiration –
As the award ceremony was in memory of the co-founder and chairman of the firm Designtex, it is to inspire the young minds of designers through his innovations and intent to see every aspect of the mere objects as a source of inspiration. Through this exhibition, each participant has expanded their knowledge to such an extent that makes people visualize their thoughts toward sustainability through the designed products. The award exhibition was for emerging product designers in or across products, furniture, textiles, or technology. Each year, a panel of design luminaries will handpick some of the brightest emerging designers currently making waves in product design. The winner, selected for their innovative approach to contemporary themes, will receive a £5,000 honorarium and will be invited to display their work in the atrium of the Design Museum, London.
Winner of the Ralph Saltzman Award 2023 –
Out of all the entries, the five nominees selected for the final review by a panel of designers were – Joseph Yanney Ewusie, Marco Campardo, Rio Kobayashi, Simón Ballen Botero, and Timi Oyedeji. Henceforth, the evaluation based on the various aspects declares Marco Campardo as the deserving winner of the Ralph Saltzman Award. The winner received a £5,000 bursary and an opportunity to represent his innovations in the exhibition of the Design Museum from 2 February until 3 April 2023.
The innovations of Marco Campardo that leads him to Award-winning –
The ideologies of the artist articulate the concept of sustainability and renewable materials that make it clear to the design enthusiast Lisa Saltzman for the establishment of the reward to its vision of perceiving the product designs. ‘The legacy continues through innovative hues.’ Through every design of Marco Campardo, one can sense the reflection of work ethics and the sustainable vision of Ralph Saltzman. To expand his inclination toward product designing, Campardo has proficiency in Graphic designing. As a critical thinker, he considers exploring the vastness of cultural identity, materials, experiments, and processes as the intent of the outcomes. In addition to it, Marco Campardo shares that his design philosophy is not any particular theory-based but an experimentation process. He believes that sticking his observation into technical details is not his way of working somewhat likes to play with forms and follow the process where all the puzzle blocks lead him to the outcome.
For the Design Museum display, Marco Campardo represented his collection of minimal furniture and a piece of reversible furnish that may amaze one who witnesses its collection. The product ‘Reversible’ is one of his creations that conquers the emerging issue of downcycling. After researching the current scenarios, issues, and side effects, he expanded his knowledge to create a sustainable product range for the project Superfutures by Selfridges.
For the product Reversible, he used clay as a base material and combined all the particles with sugar as a binding material. The vision of Macro towards this combination is to sustain the problem of discarding products when not in use. The sustainability of this product is driven by dissolving it in water after usage and used further for other purposes.
The above philosophy of Macro Campardo for material experimentation is concrete evidence of its valuable vision towards a sustainable future more than just focusing on aesthetics. He believes that aesthetical appeal lies within the process, not the outcome. As he works based on Process-driven designs, the aesthetic reflects through his intelligence towards the basis of materials and cultural technologies.
Inspiring others –
For the Ralph Saltzman Design Museum award 2023, Marco Campardo not only won the title as an emerging designer but also his perception towards the use of waste materials with the amalgamation of technology inspires every young enthusiast to approach the design industry. He wants to create a solution to every problem within the design industry that is feasible not only in theories but in a practical way. The award has cleared the way for him to approach his thoughts toward sustainability in a more appropriate manner. He proves that exploring through experiments, and educating yourself in the right manner towards the dynamic challenges, drives operational ideas out of your mind.
External References –
www.stirpad.com. (n.d.). Design Museum declares Marco Campardo as ‘The Ralph Saltzman Prize’ 2023 winner. [online] Available at: https://www.stirpad.com/news/stir-news/design-museum-declares-marco-campardo-as-the-ralph-saltzman-prize-2023-winner/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2023].
published, R.B. (2023). Marco Campardo wins Design Museum’s emerging designer prize. [online] wallpaper.com. Available at: https://www.wallpaper.com/design-interiors/marco-campardo-design-museum-ralph-saltzman-winner-2023 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2023].
Q42, F. & (n.d.). The Ralph Saltzman Prize 2023. [online] Design Museum. Available at: https://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-ralph-saltzman-prize-2023# [Accessed 4 Mar. 2023].
www.salonemilano.it. (n.d.). A private conversation with Marco Campardo | Salone del Mobile. [online] Available at: https://www.salonemilano.it/en/articoli/people/private-conversation-marco-campardo [Accessed 4 Mar. 2023].
