A select jury of international stature distinguished winners of the 2005 Siderar Steel Design Award.

On September 13, Siderar unveiled the names of the winners of the second edition of the Steel Design Award, an event organized by Siderar and a number of Siderar’s small and medium-sized customers, all participants in the plant’s ProPymes Program. This contest is the result of a joint initiative that seeks to create bridges between the steel supplier, the small producer, the end user and the world of design applied to innovation.

With the support of the Fundación PROA and the Metropolitan Design Center of the City of Buenos Aires (CMD), a call was made to professionals and students from design-related study programs to design innovative objects made entirely or primarily out of steel, targeting a medium level of production that could be used both in public and private spheres, according to the particular circumstances presented by each one. The guiding premise was to recognize creativity and design as added values in steel production. Within the framework set by the ProPymes Program, this award is seen as a means to promote the use of steel in new ways and new markets, fostering the competitive edge of small and medium-sized steel producers while optimizing the quality of their products.

All entries to the contest were considered by a multidisciplinary international team of judges, integrated by Ricardo Blanco, Director of the Industrial Design program at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Diana Cabeza, an architect specialized in the design of urban and institutional equipment, Sebastián Gordín, artist, and Roberto Nápoli, resident architect in Italy and head of the Industrial Design Program at the Politecnico di Milano. As it happened last year, the judges recognized participants in two different categories: students and professionals. In the second category the winning project, “Fouco”, was designed by Daniel Callegari, Germán Sbrascini and Diego Martín. In the “student” category, Hernán Vapore took first place with his project “Globe”.

The participants who took first, second and third places in both categories will receive more than $20,000 in prizes, in both cash and paid training at the small and medium-sized companies co-sponsoring the event. Furthermore, first and second prize winners will have a prototype of their project developed by the sponsoring companies. The member companies of the Chamber of Metallic Containers (Cámara de Envases Metálicos y Afines - CAFEMYA), EMEGE, Expanmetal, Oblak, Rapi-estant and Shulman will contact award winners to initiate the final design of their projects. During last year’s contest, produced prototypes, which reached more than 10, were exhibited at the Metropolitan Design Center, Villarino 2498 and still be seen on display today.