SILMO Optical Design Contest:THE NOMINEES:

Aimed at stimulating creativity and providing a platform for the future generation of designers, SILMO Paris launched the Optical Design Contest at the beginning of the year.

For this first edition, the competition is chaired by Emmanuel Gallina, a designer known for his creative ethic, his sense of coherency and his authenticity. A graduate of E.N.A.D (Limoges) and I.A.V (Orléans), he went on to further his knowledge at the Politecnico di Milano, where he earned a Master’s degree in design & management.

Exercising his art between Bordeaux and Milan, Emmanuel Gallina designs furniture and objects for major brands and furnishes locations and interiors all over the world.

At the beginning of July, members of the jury gathered to evaluate the projects received and retain the most relevant among them.

As a reminder, the Optical Design Contest was open to all students enrolled in a design course at a level equivalent or above third year post-baccalauréat. The brief outlining the projects was precise and without creative restriction, they needed to integrate an ethical design approach for an optical object, be it lenses, frames, connected objects, low vision or equipment for opticians or manufacturers, etc.

The jury members examined the applications with close attention and a particular focus on the creative and innovative design aspect, the use and function of the proposed object and the intrinsic feasibility of the project. The 7 projects selected will have the honour of producing a prototype and of being unveiled at SILMO Paris to name the winner for 2022:

• SI / Look to the future from Alessandro Battaini (NABA – New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan):  a pre-mounted glasses concept, interchangeable and versatile.

• KNOT / Inclusive Eyewear from Diego Sparta (Politecnico di Milano – Bovisa Durando Campus – Design School): a frame designed for disabled people.

• OORA from Silvana Migliozzi (Politecnico di Milano): smart glasses intended for readers, whose principal application is the ability to annotate text and save quotes… at a glance.

• SONDER from Sessa Martina (NABA – New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan): glasses fitted with sensors to avoid headaches, limit back problems and correct bad posture.

• PERCY from Jocelyne Boisson (Design School of Landes, Mont-de-Marsan): a moulded aquatic mask that questions the role of vision, to be seen without necessarily seeing.

• GOOGLESS from Vincenzo Panico (NABA – New Academy of Fine Arts, Milan): a modern reinvention of the nose clip and the monocle that plays on geometric shapes.

• UNFOLDABLE from Adi Abramov (Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, Ramat Gan, Israel): glasses made from recycled material in a brutalist aesthetic, with profiled X-hinge stems.

We look forward to seeing you at the Silmo Paris show, from 23 to 26 September 2022 to discover the projects in detail and the prototypes!