The land of chairs: an Italian competition for young furniture designers had mixed results - View

Architectural Review, The, Nov, 2003 by Pelham Davey

Friuli-Venezia Giulia is the most north-easterly Italian province, with Slovenia to the east and Austria to the north. It is often overlooked by tourists unaware of the charms of its geographical complexities and social diversity. The province also plays a large role in the economic success of northern Italy. The chair industry is a major contributor to this. With a production of 44 000 000 chairs every year, 30 per cent of all factory-manufactured chairs in the world are made in Friuli. Nearly 1200 chair-related companies employ over 14 000 people, in what is known as the 'chair triangle', so the district naturally lends itself to the world's only annual chair show. The International Chair Exhibition held in Udine, and organized by Promosedia, has been growing in size and momentum since its inception in 1977. The show has 198 exhibitors, with over 6000 chairs and chair related products. As well as local talent, there is an increasing international presence, with exhibits from all over Europe.

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Annually, the Caiazza Memorial challenge competition is awarded at the show to recognize young furniture designers and encourage emerging talent. The competition is open to anyone under 40 years old residing in Europe. The first three finalists receive a cash prize, but more importantly the seven finalists and the three specially invited young designers have their designs turned into prototypes, manufactured by companies within the chair triangle and exhibited at the show. Overall winners were Chris Jackson and Peter MacCann (United Kingdom) for their LTO chair, a chair that allows natural positioning of the body when the chair is leaning towards a table or desk. The second prize went to Sakura Adachi's Foo-Sha chair (UK), for skilful use of laminates and use of industrial technique. Third was Austrian Claudia Pfleger's spring loaded stool, which was premiated for simplicity of design in allowing the seat to follow the contours of the body.