Interview Marco Dessí on the Pure Talents Contest 2024

The participants' interest in new material developments is strikingly high. This generation of designers is curious, they research and try to utilise waste products from industry and develop them into circular concepts. The experiments were often developed into concrete applications, some of them are really convincing - that's great!

In addition to the classic furniture, we saw a lot of conceptual work dealing with themes such as tiny spaces, multifunctionality and similar. These concepts were developed with realistic areas of application in mind - not in fulfilment of a purely formal claim, but as concrete answers to the needs of a new society.

I would say it was relatively balanced between experimental and ready to market, but the experimental output was quite high. I have the feeling that the motivation to design for the industry is no longer as strong among students today as it was in my day.

Firstly, limited editions and collectibles have brought a change in the industry. The discussion about "Is this still design or already art?" has dissolved in recent years. On the other hand, the industry has become very adapted and commercialised and no longer holds the same fascination for young designers as it used to. Few companies have the expressive power they had 20 or even 10 years ago. The actual product culture is mutating more and more into a lifestyle, where the context sometimes seems more important than the product itself. Many people are concerned with other things today. The questions that many young designers seek to answer today are often different from those posed by manufacturers.

Nordic design with its "feel-good" design language has had an extreme influence on the form and content of this sector in recent years. The strong spread of emotionally charged minimalism with soft, rounded shapes is also linked to the increase in upholstered furniture, which is in high demand in the dining and hospitality sector in particular. Materials, haptics and textiles are becoming increasingly important. Stylistically, you can also recognise more and more influences from the most diverse areas, it remains exciting.

It was a great experience! I took part twice - once in 2005 with my Radiator project - a reinterpretation of the classic industrial radiator, which didn't go into production but still got attention in the press for years and gave me a great boost. Later I took part with my Prater Chair, which was presented as a prototype and can now be found in stores. I started my design studies with a vague idea of design; I came from a technical profession and was looking for more ways to express myself. It was these competitions that ultimately drew me into this industry. Competitions have a bridging function between studies and career, they confirm that you are on the right path, that you feel comfortable in this field and that you can make a contribution.

The concrete contact with the trade fair and with the manufacturers - that's quite special. Competitions are organised by various institutions with different expectations – but these competitions are mostly just a showcase. The Pure Talents Contest offers a unique opportunity to win an exhibition space. It creates ideal situations for young talents where they can also enter into dialogue with the industry. It is important not only to deal with the conception of an idea, but also to engage with its development at a very early stage: How does the idea change in the design process if I actually realise it?

There has always been playful design. In my opinion, design is neither more playful nor more serious than before the pandemic. In terms of approaches, the submissions don't seem that different to the work of our years. But certain topics have become more important: the topic of materials, resource- and energy-saving construction, cooling, cooking and heating. What could all this look like in the future?