Compasso d'Oro
Awarded for	Industrial design excellence
Sponsored by	Associazione per il Disegno Industriale
Location	ADI Design Museum (Milan)
Country	Italy
Presented by	Associazione per il Disegno Industriale
Established	1954
Website	adidesignmuseum.org

TheCompasso d'Oro (Italian pronunciation:[komˈpassoˈdɔːro];'Golden Compass') is anindustrial design award which originated in Italy in 1954. Initially sponsored by Milanese department storeLa Rinascente, the award has been organised and managed by theAssociazione per il Disegno Industriale (ADI) since 1964. The Compasso d'Oro is the first and among the most recognized and respected design awards. It aims to acknowledge and promote quality in industrial design in Italy and internationally, and has been called both the "Nobel" and the "Oscar" of design.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The Compasso d′Oro was established in 1954, and it is the highest honour in the field of industrial design in Italy,^[6] comparable to other prestigious international awards such as theGood Design award,iF Design Award,Red Dot Award, theCooper-HewittNational Design Awards, and theGood Design Award (Japan). It was the first award of its kind in Europe and became internationally significant.

The original idea for the award is credited to designerGio Ponti andAlberto Rosselli [it]. Many other leading architects and designers of the era, including the Castiglioni brothers (Livio,Pier Giacomo, andAchille),Albe Steiner [it],Enzo Mari andMarco Zanuso, were involved in aspects of its inception and early development.^[1][9] The Compasso d'Oro logo (designed by Steiner) and award trophy invoke the draftingcompass invented by Adalbert Göringer in 1893 to measure theGolden Section.^[1][10]

The Italy Industrial Designing Association manages the Compasso d'Oro, and it is also a member of the International Industrial Designing Committee and the European Designing Bureau.^{[citation needed]}

Since its inception, approximately 350 designers have been honoured with the award,^[1] for designs covering a wide range – from automobiles and bicycles to furniture and household objects, portable sewing machines, typewriters, calculators, clocks, lighting as well as concepts and systems, technical equipment, and yachts.^{[citation needed]}

For the first time, the 2020 Compasso d'Oro included a "Products Career Award" which was given to three historical designs that have proven to be highly successful over time but were not awarded at the time of their inception: a 1962 floor lamp,Arco, by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni; a 1978 bed design, Nahalie, byVico Magistretti; and the now famous 1968 Saccobean-bag chair designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro.^[11]

TheADI Design Museum in Milan houses the historical collection of the ADI Compasso d'Oro Foundation, as well as temporary exhibitions.^[12] On 22 April 2004, theMinistry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism – through its Superintendency forLombardy – declared the collection of "exceptional artistic and historical interest", thus making it part of the national cultural heritage.^[13][14] In 2020, the Milan square where the ADI Design Museum is situated was renamed "Piazza Compasso d'Oro" to honour the cultural and historical significance of the award.^[15][16]

The inaugural ADI "Compasso d'Oro International Award" will be held at theExpo 2025 inOsaka, Japan.^[17][18] The winning entries will be exhibited in the Italian pavilion.^[19]

In 2025,Treccani published a comprehensive history of the Compasso d'Oro. The volume is over 1,000 pages and includes 2,275 images that document the ADI museum's collection dating from its 1954 inception through to 2022. It is published in both Italian and English versions.^{[20][21][22][23]}

• Selection of winning designs
• 
  CassinaModel 683 chair byCarlo De Carli [it] (1954 award)^[30]
• 
  OlivettiLettera 22 byMarcello Nizzoli (1954 award)^[31][32]
• 
  Borletti [it]Model 1102 "Super-automatic" sewing machine byMarco Zanuso (1956 award)^[33]
• 
  SolariCifra 5 electricsplit-flap clock byNani andGino Valle (1956 Award)^[34]
• 
  FiatNuova 500 byDante Giacosa (1959 award)^[35]
• 
  OlivettiELEA electric calculator byEttore Sottsass et al. (1959 award)^[32]
• 
  Abarth 1000 Bialbero byUgo Zagato (1960 award)^[36]
• 
  BrionvegaDoney portable television byRichard Sapper andMarco Zanuso (1962 award)^[37]
• 
  Grillo telephone by Richard Sapper and Marco Zanuso (1967 award)^[38]
• 
  ZanottaSacco chair by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, Franco Teodoro (1968 design; 2020 award)^[39]
• 
  OlivettiSUMMA 19 byEttore Sottsass and Hans Von Klier (1970 award)^[40][32]
• 
  OluceAtollo 233/D lamp byVico Magistretti (1979 award)^[41]
• 
  Alessi9090 espresso maker byRichard Sapper (1979 award)^[42]
• 
  FLOS [it]Parentesi lamp byAchille Castiglioni from aPio Manzù concept sketch (1979 award)^[43]
• 
  Castelli [it]Vertabrae chair byEmilio Ambasz and Giancarlo Piretti (1981 award)^[44]
• 
  Tecno [it]Nomos table and office desk system byFoster + Partners (1987 award)^[45]
• 
  AlessiNuovo Milano cutlery by Ettore Sottsass with Alberto Gozzi (1989 award)^[46]
• 
  Alfa Romeo Brera concept prototype byGiorgetto Giugiaro (2004 award)^[47]
• 
  Ducati1199 Panigale byGiandrea Fabbro and Ducati Design Center (2014 award)^[48]
• 
  Fondazione Prada byRem Koolhaas/OMA (2018 award)^[49]

• List of Compasso d'Oro recipients by year (in Italian)
• List of awards considered the highest in a field
• List of design awards
• List of industrial designers

• Fiell, Charlotte; Fiell, Peter (2005).Design of the 20th Century (25th anniversary ed.). Köln: Taschen. p. 174.ISBN 978-3-8228-4078-8.OCLC 809539744.
• Fiell, Charlotte; Fiell, Peter (2006).Industrial Design A-Z. London:Taschen.ISBN 978-3-8228-5057-2.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPremio Compasso d'Oro.

• Official site of theAssociazione per il Disegno Industriale(in Italian)
• List of all Compasso d'Oro winners since 1954 by year/edition(in Italian)
• ADI Permanent Collection (Searchable database of past winners)
• Compasso d’Oro Career Award (Timeline index of past winners)
• ADI Design Museum Compasso d'Oro, brief documentary film byRAI Culture television(in Italian)

• 1954 establishments in Italy
• Awards established in 1954
• Compasso d'Oro Award recipients
• Design awards
• Industrial design awards
• Italian awards
• Italian design
• Manufacturing in Italy
• Science and technology in Italy

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• Commons category link from Wikidata
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