The creation of the winning design officially brought to a close the 2019 competition involving students on the Interior and Furniture Design course run by Istituto Europeo di Design (IED) in Florence and promoted by Iris Ceramica.

The Furniture Design competition winner was “Drops” by Giorgio Nizzero.

The aim of the competition was to express all the technical and aesthetic qualities of porcelain stoneware in an exquisitely designed product featuring innovative elements in terms of aesthetics, design and furnishing, following a preliminary and in-depth visit to the Iris Ceramica Group’s Fiorano Modenese showroom and new Historical Museum.

Resulting from an investigation into how square and circular shapes can be married, “Drops” is a piece of furniture with variable configurations that can be used as a stool, coffee table, chair or support.

The product has been especially designed for outdoor use, thanks to the resistance of the ceramic to atmospheric agents, the particular light weight of the material and the shape that resembles water. The hole in the seat also allows the backrest support to be rotated into 4 different positions and the object can also be connected to a wall.

A design product with different facets and uses that provides a Furniture Design solution using porcelain stoneware.

“We are very proud of this collaboration that IED has maintained for several years with Iris Ceramica as partners on the Design 2 course, under the wise guidance of the course teacher, Prof. Francesco Scanu (founding partner of the Area17 studio). This collaboration allows our students to develop projects with world leading companies in the production of ceramic coatings and to gain a complete understanding of the production chain and quality of Italian production.”