Back again this year the appointment with the Agorà Design competition, dedicated to design, planning and architecture promoted by the cultural association of the same name. Agorà Design is not only a competition, but also an art biennial that from 8 to 11 October will animate the historic centre of Martano (LE), transforming it into a crossroads of experiences, ideas, projects and professionalism.
Over the years, the Agorà Design competition has become an international event that has seen the participation of prestigious names in architecture and design such as, among others, Stefano Boeri, Benedetta Tagliabue (president of the jury), Walter Mariotti (editorial director of Domus), Marco Rainò (architect and editor of Icon Design), Florinda Saieva (Farm Cultural Park), Francesco Pagliari (architecture and art critic and editor of The Plan).

Agorà Design 2020 Competition: aims and regulations

Open to professionals and students, the aim of the competition is to promote an idea of architecture and design that can meet the needs of everyday life, without giving up the beauty that only aesthetic contemplation can give.
The Agorà Design competition is divided into two main sections: Agorà Living, dedicated to indoor furniture, which expires on June 30; Agorà Garden, curated by Sprech, expiring on September 7, dedicated to outdoor and divided into textile structures (roofing, tensile structures, tents, dehors, gazebos) and outdoor furniture. For each section there will be awards and cash prizes. As in previous editions, all selected projects will then be included in the event catalogue and will be on display for the entire duration of the event.
This year, across the competition sections, a special mention will be given to those projects that will stand out for their ability to reuse olive wood, with the aim of giving new life to what Xylella has destroyed.
The motto of the call to participate in Agorà Design is “Transforming wood is an act of resistance“. Xylella is the bacterium responsible for the rapid drying of olive trees in Puglia, which in recent years has affected about 165 kilometers of countryside between Brindisi and Lecce alone.
Between desiccation and forced eradication, Xylella has forced farmers to stack, against their will, an enormous amount of olive wood, a precious wood of particular beauty which, through the Agorà Design competition, is transformed from waste material into a precious resource giving life to design objects.

Agora Design Living Section

Participants are asked to propose new and original projects, characterized by design, functionality and environmental sustainability, which describe particular ways of use and innovative applications of materials; they will have to realize, independently or in collaboration with companies in the sector, a prototype of interior furniture.
Applications to participate in the Agorà Design 2020 competition for the Living section must be sent exclusively to the dedicated e-mail address info@agoradesign.it by 30 June 2020.
The prototype will be exhibited in the spaces of Palazzo Baronale in Martano (Le) on the occasion of the 2020 edition of Agorà Design which will take place from 8 to 11 October. The award ceremony will take place during the event.

Agorà Design Garden Section

Participants are asked to propose new and original projects, characterized by design, functionality and environmental sustainability, which describe particular ways of use and innovative applications of materials in these two thematic areas: textile structures (roofing, tensile structures, tents, dehors, gazebos, etc.) and outdoor furniture. Applications for participation, which, in this case too, can be individual or group, must be received by 7 September 2020.