This year's contenders, the organisers say, numbered 700, selected by a prestigious committee whose job is to filter proposals that come in from all over the world, currently above all from Asia. Precisely a project made in China (by an international team including Italians and Greeks) won first prize (10,000 euros) with the Cloud series of lamps, inspired by the shapes of clouds reproduced in the stone sculptures of ancient royal Chinese gardens.

The group Xuberance, based in the Bund area of Shanghai, made the lamps by using 3-D printing. The new road taken by the design team toward aesthetic renewal of traditional Chinese culture was what convinced the international jury to award them the prize.

Second prize (5,000 euros) also went to an Asian national, Scottie Huang from Taiwan, a media artist who explores new types of interaction, with results that are half digital, half kinetic art. His interactive Dandelion Mirror reacts to the facial expression of whoever looks in the glass, and was appreciated for the friendly way in which it uses technology to improve daily life, applied to an unusual object. Third prize (2,500 euros) was awarded to the Australian Viktor Legin from Studio Copper. His Balance Pendant lamps are made in steam-curved wood and can be positioned by means of a counterweight. The jury valued the way he developed a functional and decorative object with so few elements.

Two honourable mentions went to two German entries. Documentary Design submitted clay speakers called Mapuguaquèn, which combine techniques from ceramics manufacturing with wireless technology. Out for Space were rewarded for their KC1_CLIP coat rack, inspired by the shape of a paper clip and made in "karuun", a new natural material based on rattan.