Trieste Contemporanea’s Design Contest Seeks Iconic Street Furniture for Nova Gorica/Gorizia

The Trieste Contemporanea Committee has announced the 15th edition of its International Design Contest, inviting designers from Central and Eastern Europe to participate. The competition aims to showcase original and unpublished design proposals for a potentially iconic item of street furniture that could represent the historical location of Nova Gorica/Gorizia and the sharing of cultural values.

The winning design will be selected by a panel of judges and will be exhibited at Trieste Contemporanea, along with other shortlisted projects. The winner will also receive a cash prize of 4,000 EUR and their design may be considered for realization by the organizers of the “GO! 2025—Nova Gorica and Gorizia European Capital of Culture 2025” event.

The competition is open to designers of all ages from the following countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Submissions must be made through a specific online application form on the Trieste Contemporanea website by May 12, 2024, at 11:59pm CET.

To support preliminary project studies, the organizers will conduct two webinars and a study visit to Nova Gorica and Gorizia. The competition seeks a street furniture design that merges functionality, formal simplicity, comfort, durability, and minimal maintenance. The design should be reproducible in a small series and should be suitable for integration into the daily social life of the cities.

The Trieste Contemporanea International Design Contest is a biennial event established in 1995 to promote contemporary design from Central and Eastern Europe. This edition of the competition is unique as it runs in conjunction with the EU Slovenia-Italy cross-border project for Nova Gorica and Gorizia, designated European Capital of Culture in 2025.