Design, the awarding of the Compasso d'Oro 2025 at the Osaka Expo

At the same time, the design confirms its focus on sustainability and environmental responsibility through the use of recycled materials, circular economy processes and solutions that reduce the impact on natural resources.

Technology at the service of life emerges as a concrete tool for social inclusion and improving the quality of spaces, thanks to robotics, artificial intelligence and digital platforms redesigned for everyday use.

The international jury of the Compasso d'Oro International Award 2025, chaired by Maite García Sanchis and composed of Luciano Galimberti, Yongqi Lou, Mario Vattani and Matteo Vercelloni, emphasised "how the award-winning projects were able to interpret the Expo 2025 theme declined in the three areas: saving lives, empowering lives and connecting lives".

"The word design," stressed Luciano Galimberti, "lends itself to multiple interpretations. In this perspective, the main theme of Expo 2025 is particularly relevant to the idea of design as a discipline that runs through our lives'. While according to Mario Vattani, 'this is precisely the idea of Italy that we want to promote: a nation capable of uniting culture and industry, creativity and innovation, tradition and strategic vision'.

Since 1954, the Compasso d'Oro has represented the highest recognition of Italian design. Founded by Giò Ponti and recognised as a cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture, the award has helped define the very narrative of design for over seventy years. Each award-winning project will become part of the permanent collection of the Compasso d'Oro at the Adi design museum in Milan, flanking some 2,500 works that recount the evolution of design and society from the 1950s to the present day.

The winning projects will be on display at the Italian Pavilion until the close of Expo 2025 on 13 October. The ceremony and exhibition will then be held again in Milan, at the ADI Design Museum, on 9 December.