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Built around exchanges between professionals and students, and an ongoing sharing between cultures and perspectives, the 2025 Agorà Design Festival brought together design offerings and ideas aimed at improving people’s quality of life in cities and societies in flux. Held in Martano, in Italy’s Lecce province, the event was presented by the Radio Salentinacooperative with support from lead sponsor Sprech and partnerships with a string of associations and public institutions. Themed “The Necessary Project,” this four-day event dedicated to creativity and design featured a busy program of events, exhibitions, talks, and a major competition for professionals and students.
Divided into the categories Garden and Living, the competition attracted around 150 entries, 80 of which were on showin Palazzo Baronale, one of the festival’s main venues. Designers and architects tackled the theme of “The Necessary Project” by exploring the delicate balance between contemporary needs and good design. The exhibited entries included original design responses to functional, social, environmental, and humanitarian challenges, demonstrating that a project is “necessary” when it satisfies both current demands and the timeless principles of good design. And the jury faced a difficult task. Its members were Francesco Zurlo, professor at Politecnico di Milano and founder of Poli.Design; Giulio Iacchetti, industrial designer; and Federica Cevasco and Giacomo Nava, senior architects with AMDL Circle, the multidisciplinary studio founded by Michele De Lucchi.
“When it’s a genuine response to real needs and people, design generates shared value,” said Lucia Rescio, general manager of Sprech. “The quality of the projects submitted was very high – ideas that combine research, aesthetics, and sustainability, giving a vivid and concrete image of the necessary project.”
Marta Doberti won first prize in the Living category with her Gabbiano lighting system. Second and third places went to Patrizia Bertolini with her Tiratisù stool and Sissy Daniele with the M19 shelving system. Aldo Mucciarone won the Garden category with his design board for the Salice system, followed by entries from Damiano Lorenzani, Marco Taietta, Marco Negrin, and Elena Maffioletti. Agorà Design’s industry partners also awarded special mentions.Giuseppe Campailla received the MAXXI – Interior Design prize for his Enosi recycled‑paper objects, while Marta Doberti was chosen by Italamona for her Gabbiano lighting system.
As well as plaques and cash prizes, Sprech selected several projects for prototype development and inclusion in its catalog. This also happened in 2023, when four prototypes developed from competition entries were exhibited in Martano’s public spaces. The exhibits included the Felicità hammock by Samuel David Silva Batista, the Trullight seat by Sissy Daniele, the Esse daybed by Antonio Giovanni Calone, and MoonGlow by Silvia Orlandi.
A kids’ competition was also held for students from the Martano‑Carpignano‑Serrano comprehensive school. The organizers’ aim was to bring together professionals and the next generation, research and play, and creativity and community.
Through October 24, the events continue with Agorà Design Off at Palazzo Ducale. Highlights include Arturo Vittori’s Warka Tower installation, a bamboo tower that harvests water from the air for communities without water resources; Oggettario by r+s Studio, which traces stories and memories tied to everyday objects; Lo Spazio Morale, which looks at architecture as an act of solidarity, curated by the Reggio Emilia Architects Foundation; and Anatomie del Visibile by Alice Caracciolo, a photographic series that interrogates perceptions of reality. Other events include Shelter, an exhibition on the evolution of shelters amid humanitarian crises and global inequalities, and Kora_Extended, a platform for creating customized virtual exhibitions, curated by Ramdom with Studio Zero.
“We’ll continue to cultivate this positive exchange by selecting new projects from the 2025 edition to become prototypes for the 2027 Agorà Design Festival,” Rescio continued. “This reflects the fact that Agorà Design isn’t just a competition but a permanent workshop for dialogue between designers and industry.”
For more information: www.agoradesign.it
Photography by Antonio Leo, courtesy of Agorà Design
