IDEASxWOOD is the most important Contest in the world in the wood sector, promoted by Tabu, Italian excellence in wood dyeing based in Cantù, and sponsored by ADI, FederlegnoArredo and FSC® Italia. It is an annual and international competition of ideas, addressed both to university students and to designers under 40. Main partner is Carpanelli, a historic company from Desio that produces contemporary furniture, faithful, however, to a classic and elegant taste.

 

Knowledge and enhancement of wood

A training project aimed at supporting the knowledge of wood and its valorization as a noble, living and renewable raw material, IDEASxWOOD aims to give participants the opportunity to develop skills on wood, dyeing technology, production processes and the latest generation of wood surfaces: multilaminar veneers, industrial inlays, three-dimensional surfaces, the latest generation of boiserie and wood floors.

 

The announcement of the Contest 2021/2022

The announcement of the Contest, online at www.ideasxwood.it, provides for those who wish to design wooden surfaces the following themes:
- multilaminar veneers (650 x 3100 mm) for the furniture industry and for wall cladding in interiors;
- industrial inlays both with dyed natural veneers and with multilaminar veneers - or freely juxtaposable - for the production of panels (1260 x 3060 mm, e.g. Radiche e Graffiti Collection by Tabu), for the furniture industry and for interior wall coverings;
- three-dimensional surfaces made using the relief or bas-relief technique for the production of panels (1250 x 2500/3000 mm, e.g. Tabu's Groovy Collection) for the furniture industry and for interior wall coverings;
- surfaces for boiserie of the latest generation made of sheets (620 x 3000 mm, e.g. Tabu Boiserie SKEENS Collection).
- wooden floors, made of staves or other free geometric shapes.
The deadline for submitting projects is May 31, 2022.
Each idea must be submitted within a Project Area, chosen at the time of submission, among the following areas: residential, yacht, HO.RE.CA., wellness, retail and mobility.
The solutions presented must be new and aimed at enhancing the workmanship of Tabu. The aesthetic quality of the presentation and considerations about the technical feasibility of the project will be positively evaluated as well as the indication in the project of at least one wood species certified according to the FSC® list and the attention to the reuse of wood and the optimization of its use in production processes.
For those who wish to design furniture, the Carpanelli Award, within the Contest, defines the guidelines.

 

Not only a contest of ideas, but ideas become reality

The Contest is not only a competition of ideas because the deserving projects are brought into production; the winners of the II and III Edition are in fact in production for the Salone del Mobile 2022.
The winning projects of the II Edition put into production are: Pixel (Professionals Category), Dolfin (Carpanelli Professionals), Gae (Carpanelli students) and Alfea (Carpanelli Jury Mention).
In the 3rd Edition of the Contest over 630 projects were received. On the occasion of the final, which took place on September 9, 2021 at the panoramic terrace The Roof in Milan, 200 guests were invited, including the press, university professors, members of the Jury, companies, institutional guests and, of course, the finalists, who came from all over Italy, including several foreigners who study at universities in Milan.

 

III Edition of the IDEASXWOOD 2020/2021 Contest: the winners

The winning projects of the 3rd Edition of the IDEASXWOOD 2020/2021 Contest were, in the student category, "Perspecto" by Francesca Badame and Anna Farina from La Sapienza in Rome, "Rigato" by Camilla Cermenati and Erika Frusca from the Nuova Accademia delle Belle Arti in Milan, "Faded" by Francesca Trentani from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera and "Rocky Wod" by Giulia Bruno, Gualtiero Borgonovo and Pietro Mariani from the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera.
In the professional category the following projects were awarded: "Aurora" by Alkass Aziz from Istanbul, "Kasuri" by Silvia Notaro from Hong Kong and "Unity" by Elahe Eli from Teheran.
The winners of the Carpanelli Award (furniture) in the student category were "Gea" by Gianluca Branca of the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera, "Gira" by Shinjo Taeko of the IED in Florence and "Famiglia Surreale" by Andrea Oselin, Giada Buzzichini and Lorenzo Taccetta of the Politecnico of Milan. In the professional category, "Ligera" by Miguel Reguero, "Quarta dimensione" by Zoeli Rota and "San Filippo" by Geovanny Carignani and Luca Cotini.