Museu da Casa Brasileira, São Paulo, November to December 2003
Coordination
Upon taking over the leadership of the MCB, Adélia Borges sought to enhance the Design Award, conducted by the institution since 1986, the oldest in the area. A revise of the regulations expanded the scope of the award, which no longer focused only on objects of domestic use to include home-office and offices projects. The new categories become furniture, utensils, lighting, textiles and finishings, construction equipment, electric and electronic equipment and critical essays. The effort to increase representation resulted in 333 entries, a record since 1986. The focus of the initiative, which had been dispersed, became a testimonial to the excellence of current Brazilian design with a deliberate desire to enhance the design practiced in industries and democratic. The first prize in furniture went to a veteran of the Brazilian design, Michel Arnoult. At 81 years of age, he won the award with the chair Pelicano, which can be considered the synthesis of his career since the 1950s in Brazil, in search of low cost and functional furniture. Exhibition design by Haron Cohen.
