The 2020 Compasso d’Oro design award winners have been announced, and the Vespa Elettrica received an honorable mention! This prestigious Italian design award started in 1954, and in its modern guise, covers everyday industrial design brought to life either by Italian designers or made in Italy. Today, it’s the oldest design award given in Italy.
For 2020, only 18 products spanning everything from bathroom accessories to brake calipers for an electric car made the awards cut—and sadly, none of these had two wheels. While there had been talk in December, 2019 of the MV Agusta Superveloce 800 Serie Oro sweeping up this design award as well, it did not come to pass.
A jury of designers, historians, journalists, and members of the Italian Association of Industrial Design (ADI) evaluate and select the eventual winners and honorable mention-holders for every round of awards. Previously, the Vespa 946 also received a Compasso d’Oro Honorable Mention for the Piaggio Group in 2016.
If you happen to be in Milan, winners and honorable mention holders for the 2020 Compasso d’Oro awards will be displayed at the brand new ADI Design Museum until September 16, 2020. You can see a full list of the winners here.
It’s a good thing that it’s beautiful, because even with the upgraded Vespa Elettrica 70km/h, it’s definitely not very fast. Then again, perhaps that makes it the ultimate leisure machine, meant to help you relax and take in the sights as you effortlessly (and silently) from café to café--or it would be, if this wasn’t the year when everyone needs to keep a safe social distance and not spend too much time at cafés.
Will Vespa or the broader Piaggio Group as a whole eventually win a Compasso d’Oro design award outright with some future design? You know as much as we do at this point, but perhaps the third time will be the charm.
Sources: Piaggio Group, Oxford Reference, Daevas Design
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