During the official ceremony at the Italy Pavilion of Expo Osaka the list of the winning projects of the Compasso d'Oro International Award of the'ADI - Associazione per il Disegno Industriale, the highest recognition of Italian design that on the occasion of Expo 2025 marked a new stage in its internationalization path, was unveiled. The international jury - chaired by Maite García Sanchis and composed of Luciano Galimberti, Yongqi Lou, Mario Vattani and Matteo Vercelloni - awarded 20 Compasso d'Oro and 35 Honorable Mentions, selected from proposals from around the world on the Universal Exposition theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”.
In this year’s official statement, the jury highlighted the “great expressive richness, combined with a sense of responsibility and commitment” of the selected projects, articulated around the three subthemes “Saving Lives, Empowering Lives, and Connecting”. They recognized design as a “contemporary Esperanto”, capable of transcending boundaries and addressing global challenges with innovation, quality, and unconventional approaches.
The award-winning projects offer a rich and multifaceted overview of the directions shaping international design today. Many designers – including Giorgia Lupi with “1,374 Days – My life with Long Covid” – choose to use empathy and storytelling as relational tools, turning objects and systems into vehicles for collective narratives. Alongside this dimension is a reflection on the interplay between memory and innovation, which reinterprets traditional crafts and domestic archetypes in a contemporary key, as seen in “Qamar Multi Water Tank” and “Anisette”. Technology, understood as a human-centered resource, also finds application in robotics, artificial intelligence, and digital platforms designed to improve daily life and the use of shared spaces. Finally, alongside solutions dedicated to health and well-being – from “Mom’s Hug” to “Twin”, which make care and monitoring tools more accessible – there is a strong focus on sustainability, expressed through the creation of circular processes, responsible materials, and strategies aimed at reducing environmental impact.
The winning projects will be on display at the Italy Pavilion until October 13, 2025, the closing date of the Expo. The ceremony and exhibition will then be restaged in Milan, at the ADI Design Museum, on December 9, 2025, and will remain open to visitors until January 6, 2026.
