Agorà Design is a biennial festival held in Martano, in the province of Lecce, which celebrates creativity and the circulation of ideas on cultural and social issues related to architecture and design. The event, to be held from 28 September to 1 October 2023, is organised by the association of the same name with the support of main sponsor Sprech and the collaboration of other public and private entities. Also this year Agorà Design will offer a rich programme of laboratories, talks, lectio magistralis, conferences and themed workshops with architects, designers, creative people and entrepreneurs from all over Italy.

Dialogue and encounters between different generations and cultures represent the soul of Agorà Design, which in the course of its more than 25 years of history has increasingly become an event with an international scope. Since 1996, the event has aimed to investigate and trigger, in the field of architecture and design, that production cycle that starts from an idea and materialises in the marketing of the product. Sprech, a company specialising in the production and distribution of outdoor solutions, has taken over the organisation of the festival since 2007, including Agorà Design among its Corporate Social Responsibility projects.

Among the most important initiatives of the festival is an exhibition that brings together and displays the best projects participating in the competition open to professionals and students. The theme of the 2023 edition is "Hyperlocal: architecture and design from the territories", with two different sections: Living, dedicated to the world of interior design (furnishing complements, fabrics, coverings, flooring) and Garden, reserved for the outdoors with daybeds (solutions halfway between an outdoor sofa and a sun lounger), seating (sofas, armchairs, chairs) and coverings (gazebos, tensile structures, awnings).

The best projects will be recognised with a cash prize, ranging from 500 to 3,000 euros, and with the possibility of transforming the project into a product. This is thanks to the contribution of Sprech and other partner companies that will undertake to prototype some of the projects and include them in their own commercial catalogue. The 2021 edition closed with 180 projects submitted from all parts of the world, €10,000 in prize money for the competition winners, and over 3,000 attendees during the days of the event. This year's Call for Projects expires on 3 July 2023.

Lucia Rescio, President of the Agorà Design Association and General Manager of Sprech emphasises the social and hyper-local approach, not only of the Call for Proeject but of the entire festival: "Who if not architects, engineers, designers is called upon to imagine the new models of living? As an association we care about the strength of local communities, the reference to the Agora is also present in our name, so we are firmly convinced that innovative and effective answers on what will be the future of living will come from the territories."