Bronze Awards, Prize and Competitions Design · 2026
Tegeta 30 Year Award Commemorative
by Teona Kokhodze and Nini Chanturia
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Awards, Prize and Competitions Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Tegeta
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 8,424
- Verification code 44FDEA44D5 · Verify this award
About Tegeta 30 Year Award Commemorative
This commemorative award translates time and collective achievement into a physical form through a layered metal structure. Laser cut plates are stacked around a central axis, creating a modular system where repetition and proportion define the object. Controlled oxidation finishing ensures material durability and visual consistency.
Teona Kokhodze's Tegeta 30 Year Award Commemorative engages the enduring challenge of translating temporal duration and cumulative achievement into tangible physical form, proposing a solution rooted in the language of geometric abstraction and serial repetition that has animated both sculptural practice and product design throughout the modern era. The work demonstrates sophisticated understanding of how formal elements can carry commemorative meaning, employing the vertical stacking of identical horizontal planes to create a visual metaphor for layered time, progressive growth, or the incremental accumulation of accomplishments across three decades of organizational history. The compositional achievement lies in the careful calibration of proportion and interval, each horizontal plane maintaining identical dimensions while the negative spaces between them establish a rhythmic consistency that gives the overall form both visual coherence and symbolic resonance, the alternating light-dark pattern creating an almost musical cadence that rewards sustained looking. The chromatic restraint, limiting the palette to whites, grays, and blacks, serves multiple functions: it reinforces the commemorative seriousness appropriate to marking significant institutional longevity, it allows form and proportion to command primary attention without chromatic distraction, and it suggests the neutral authority often associated with corporate recognition systems where inclusive dignity matters more than individual expressiveness. Technical execution appears exemplary, with the matte surfaces exhibiting consistent finish quality, the edges maintaining crisp geometric precision, and the overall fabrication suggesting industrial processes capable of delivering repeatable accuracy across what one assumes would be multiple iterations for various recipients. The lighting strategy employed in the presentation photography further enhances the formal achievements, using soft directional illumination to emphasize the three-dimensionality of each plane while creating the deep shadows that activate the negative spaces as positive compositional elements, transforming absence into presence and void into form. Stylistically, the work positions itself within contemporary design discourse that values geometric clarity, material honesty, and functional directness, while simultaneously engaging art historical conversations extending from Constructivist explorations of spatial relationships through Minimalist investigations of serial repetition to current parametric and computational design interests in modular systems and algorithmic variation. The commemorative function finds elegant expression in the formal vocabulary: the vertical orientation suggesting aspiration, achievement, or upward progress; the serial repetition implying sustained consistency and enduring commitment; the monolithic presence conveying institutional weight and the significance of temporal persistence; and the careful balance between solid and void perhaps suggesting how absence and presence, what has passed and what remains, together constitute memory and recognition. One might observe how the design invites contemplation not only of what three decades represent in organizational terms but also how we as viewers understand duration itself, how we mark time's passage, and what forms prove adequate to honor achievements that unfold not in singular dramatic moments but through patient accumulation across years, and whether the quiet authority of geometric abstraction speaks more powerfully to such endurance than representational imagery might accomplish.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This commemorative award translates time and collective achievement into a physical form through a layered metal structure. Laser-cut plates are stacked around a central axis, creating a modular system where repetition and proportion define the object. Controlled oxidation finishing ensures material durability and visual consistency.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions: 130 mm (W) x 50 mm (D) x approx. 300 mm (H, variable depending on number of slabs). The base supports a modular vertical composition of metal plates and spacers. Individual elements are precision-fabricated and assembled to reflect years of service. Surface treatment includes controlled oxidation with graded tonal variation. The structure ensures stability while allowing scalable configuration.
- Tags
- award trophy, commemorative design, corporate identity, anniversary award, metal design, oxidation finish, modular structure, minimal design, recognition object, industrial craftsmanship
- Production Technology
- The design was developed through digital 3D modeling and iterative prototyping to refine proportion and structural balance. Production was carried out in collaboration with De Castelli, utilizing precision fabrication and their signature metal oxidation process to achieve controlled surface gradation. This technique enhances depth and material expression, while finishing processes ensure clean edges and a refined tactile quality.
- Design Challenge
- A key challenge was the individual production of each metal plate, with a total of 185 unique elements corresponding to employees. This required precise coordination, consistency in fabrication, and careful control of the oxidation process to maintain visual continuity across all pieces. The process was time-intensive and demanded close collaboration with the manufacturer to ensure accuracy, quality, and alignment with the conceptual intent.
- Project Duration
- The project was developed over a one-year period from 2024 to 2025. It started in Tbilisi, Georgia, with concept development and prototyping, and was completed in Italy at the De Castelli factory, where final production and material refinement were carried out.
- Operation Flow
- The trophy is experienced as a layered object, where each metal slab represents a year of contribution. As the number of layers increases, the form grows vertically, symbolizing time and collective effort. The user interacts with the object visually and physically, reading its structure as a record of achievement. This layered progression creates a clear and meaningful connection between the object and the duration of service.
- Research
- Qualitative design research aimed to translate a corporate milestone into a physical expression of time. The methodology integrated design thinking, sketching, conceptual analysis, material experimentation, and iterative prototyping. Data was collected through visual research, precedent studies, and collaboration with the manufacturer. Experiments explored proportion, layering, and oxidation processes. Results produced a modular system encoding duration, demonstrating how design can materialize collective memory and reinforce corporate identity.
- Inspiration
- The project was inspired by the concept of time as an accumulative process rather than a singular symbolic moment. References were drawn from architectural stratification, infrastructural layering, and the natural ageing of materials, where form evolves through continuous addition and transformation.
This accumulation is understood not only as physical growth but also as the result of collective human effort. The design reflects the contributions of founders and employees who have shaped the company over thirty years, translating their shared legacy into a structured and enduring form.
The research explored how repetition, proportion, and material articulation can express continuity, growth, and collective achievement. This approach prioritizes construction logic and structural clarity over decorative representation, resulting in a form that embodies both duration and human contribution. - Image Credits
- Giorgi Mamasakhlisi
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Tegeta Holding, 2025.