1. Foreword

For the third edition of the event-exhibition La Casa del III Millenio [The House of the Third MilleNium] the Small Business and Craftsmen Association (CNA) of Prato (Tuscany, Italy) intends to explore the expressions of a new ethical and responsible approach to design and production of all the elements that constitute our habitat. This is why the Association is promoting a competition of ideas for the design and production of objects and/ or systems that represent a revolution/evolution of Housing Ethics proposing a New Aesthetics of Living. The competition and all relating events will represent the opportunity to reflect upon the possible expressions of a new concept of sustainability, which nowadays does not mean worrying univocally about energetically efficient products or ecological materials, but means going back to the “fundamentals”, that is the real value, the essential function of the objects that surround us.

2. Scope and Purpose

The competition aims at identifying and producing, care of Prato CNA affiliated companies, objects and/or systems that are really innovative for their sustainable design. The products admitted to the competition should involve housing systems exclusively and must belong to one of the following 7 categories:

• * Furniture and furnishings
• * Lighting
• * Furniture and furnishings for bathrooms and kitchens
• * Garden furniture and furnishings
• * Wall and floor covering systems, paving and finishings in general
• * Internal partition systems, windows and doors
• * Domotic systems, automation and equipment

3. Guidelines 

All products belonging to these seven categories must comply with the key requirements for admission to the competition, which means that they must be designed to:

• * be easily produced on industrial scale and easily marketed by Prato CNA affiliates [www.po.cna.it]
• * meet their primary needs
• * be functional and livable in daily situations
• * send a strong message of creativity and innovation
• * present a high potential of interactive and/or recreational communication
• * promote sustainability with regard to energy consumption and climate protection
• * preferably use waste materials from other productions, with particular reference to the textile sector.

4. Submission

To enter the compatition the following material must be submitted:

* a cd-rom containing:

• - max. 5 high resolution photographs/images/3D models (300 dpi, minimum width 30 cm) of the object with views from different angles (TIFF format is mandatory)
• - 1 report (max. 2500 characters including spaces) in .rtf format containing the description of the design concept
• - 1 report (max. 2500 characters including spaces) in .rtf format containing the technical report (function, dimensions, materials used, etc.)
• - 1 report (max. 2500 characters including spaces) in .rtf format containing the description of the production process (with particular attention to the use and explaining the criteria of sustainability)

* envelope A4 format containing:

• - entry form duly filled and signed (link)
• - workshop and production data sheet completed and signed (link)
• - a brief CV of the candidate (max. 1000 characters including spaces)
• - a photograph of the candidate

5. Admission

Admission is open to all the creative: students, professionals, artists, firms and/or studios, whose activity involve architecture, engineering and design with the exclusion of CNA employees, members of the jury and whoever has collaborated to the organisation of this competition. Individuals or groups may take part (in the latter case, appointment of a grouphead is mandatory). Each entrant may send up to one design proposal for each product category.

6. How to Enter

To enter the competition, please send the entry form (link) together with all the documents requested. The entry form and attached documentation must be delivered following the instructions of point 7 below.

7. Sending the Documentation

Admission to the competition is anonymous. To ensure anonymity, each entrant must create his/her own alphanumerical code consisting of four letters and five digits (for instance “ABCD12345”). The code must be indicated on all digital files and must be stamped on a white paper label using Arial font size 15 bold to be applied on the CD-ROM sleeve and on the A4 envelope (absolutely not transparent, sealed and containing Annexes 1 and 2, the candidate’s CV and photograph). The CD-ROM and envelope must be put together into a larger envelope with external marking of the category of object/system entered and the alphanumerical code. Everything must be stamped on white paper in Arial font size 15 bold. The cover envelope with the CD-ROM and all documents must be delivered at the latest at 1 pm of 28 September 2009 to the following address:

• Concorso di design
• “Etica dell’Abitare. Nuova Estetica del Vivere”
• C.N.A. Prato, via Zarini 350c, I–59100 Prato

For courier or postal despatch, it is possible to add the sender’s data: The cover envelope prepared as per instructions above must be inserted into a larger envelope which will bear the addressee and the sender’ details. The secretary will then eliminate the outer envelope. Any projects received after the competition deadline or which do not comply with the instructions herein shall not be accepted. In case of postal despatch, the date of receipt shall apply not the date of sending.

8. Prizes

Once all the entries are checked for regularity and compliance with competition regulations, 7 projects will be selected as winners of the competition. The winners will receive a 1,000 euro prize before tax deduction. Besides motivating their choice and drawing up a report, the jury will have the possibility to award a special mention to any other entries that deserve one.

The aim of the competition is to make a prototype of each of the 7 winning projects and possibly start production of same. In fact the competition winners will have access to the development workshop for the project they presented. The workshop will be managed by Salvatore Re of Architects Studio, by Dutch Architect Frits van Dongen and by some members of the scientific committee in collaboration with the CNA affiliates that will be responsible for making the prototypes.

The objective of the workshop will be to elaborate the winning projects in order to make them suitable for production by CNA affiliates and integrate them within the display of the exhibition La Casa del III Millennio to be held in the Urban Center of Prato from December 4th to December 20th 2009. All seven winners will be CNA guests for the whole duration of the workshop which is to be held in Prato from October 15th to October 17th. The winning Projects will be extensively published in the Exhibition bilingual catalogue and will be part of the communication coverage with publications on specialised paper and web magazines.

9. Jury

The Jury’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. The Jury will short list all entrants and will choose the winning entries. Jury members will motivate their choice and draw up a report. Members will be appointed by agencies and institutions promoting the competition and will comprise 11 members:

• * Salvatore Re, Curator of “La Casa del III Millennio”
• * Frits van Dongen, Guest speaker to “La Casa del III Millennio” Workshop
• * Flavio Albanese, Director of Domus Magazine
• * Marco Bazzini, Art Director of “Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci”
• * Stefano Bettega, Principal of ISIA - Florence
• * Luca Gambacorti, Order of Architects - Prato
• * Fabio Mazzanti, Director of CNA Prato
• * Maria Paoletti, Teseco Art Foundation Trust
• * Alessandro Ricceri, Director of Artex
• * Massimo Ruffilli, Course Director for the Degree in industrial Design – University of Florence
• * Flores Zanchi, Liaison Officer for “La Casa del III Millennio”

Besides the winning projects, the Jury will identify runner-up projects that deserve a special mention and that might re-enter the competition should one or more finalists renounce his/her place.

10. Calendario

31 July 2009 Publication of notification

28 September 2009 1 pm: final deadline to receive competition entries

5 October 2009 Publication of winning projects

15-17 October 2009 Workshop

4-20 December 2009 Exhibition “La Casa del III Millennio”

11. Copyright

Entrants shall retain the intellectual property rights for their projects, whereas CNA of Prato shall have the rights for exploitation, reproduction and use of the material entered to the competition and of any material produced during the workshop, for editing the Exhibition bilingual catalogue, for all communication activities regarding the event and any insertion in the Press folder destined to the publication in specialised paper and web magazines. Furthermore, while retaining the intellectual property rights of the project entered, the seven winners shall irrevocably transfer the copyright of the prototype made for the Exhibition, which shall remain the property of CNA of Prato, including the right to display it in further events. In case of production and marketing of the product, the seven winning entrants shall sign an exclusivity agreement as professionals with the companies involved.

For non-winners works, on the other hand, the promoting agency shall have the right to use the project material entered for communications and publications pertaining to the promotion and documentation of the competition or for any subsequent shows or events.

12. Protection of Personal Data

In compliance with Legislative Decree 196/2003, all personal data supplied for or in relation with the competition shall be processed by the organisers for the sole purpose of execution, management and control of the competition and release of its final results.

13. Confidentiality Clause

The candidates undertake to handle any information or document regarding the competition with the maximum confidentiality and not to use or divulge any of the above to third parties. The candidates remain bound to this engagement even after the conclusion of the competition.

The candidates shall respect the obligation of confidentiality regarding any information directly or indirectly connected to the execution of the competition and shall not communicate to third parties, not use to his/her own or third party advantage any document or information that is not in the public domain, not even after the conclusion of the competition.

14. Return of Entries and Project Archive

Entering the competition implies the authorisation for the promoting agency to display the projects as part of the La Casa del III Millennio Exhibition and any initiatives in connection with the event or any subsequent exhibitions or events. Entrants also give their consent to the organisers for the publication of their project in specialized press and event catalogue. With regard to this, nothing shall be due albeit the obligation to mention the author/s in all phases of publication and divulgation of the competition. All entries shall remain the property of CNA of Prato. Consequently they shall be stored in the archives and shall not be returned.

15. Publication of Notification

This competition notification is published in the Prato CNA website www.po.cna.it

16. Information

Additional information is available by writing to the following e-mail address: lacasadelterzomillennio@po.cna.it