KOKUYO and VUILD are hosting an international design competition exploring the boundaries of architecture and furniture through digital fabrication.
Timed to coincide with the 2025 Venice Biennale, the competition seeks innovative ideas from talented architects and creative practitioners worldwide, aiming to explore a new future shaped by digital fabrication.
The Grand Prize-winning design will be fabricated during the Biennale period and exhibited both at the European Cultural Centre – Palazzo Mora and at THE CAMPUS—KOKUYO’s “open to the public” workplace in Tokyo.
(1) Theme:「Personal and Public」
The things we see. The warmth of sunlight, the chill of wind we feel. The beings we share space with. The objects we encounter.
The self is not fixed, but continuously woven through these shifting entanglements.
Personal is where we can fully inhabit and savor that entangled self.
Public is where new responses and relationships emerge, woven with others.
What kind of design can give form to a space that allows one to be alone, while holding the possibility of connection?
We invite proposals that explore the in-between where the Personal and the Public come into being together.
(2) Eligible Entries
Designs intended for installation in public spaces that bridge the realms of architecture and furniture.
We seek design proposals that shape spaces like architecture and attend to human gestures and sensations like furniture.
(3) Awards
・Grand Prize (1 Award): The awarded design will be fabricated and displayed at the European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora and at KOKUYO's Tokyo office, THE CAMPUS.
・Excellence Award: (2 Awards)
・Honorable Mention: (5 Awards)
※The fabricated product to be exhibited at the European Cultural Centre - Palazzo Mora are expected to be exhibited as panels, partial mock-ups, or as scaled models.
※The final product will be fabricated by KOKUYO + VUILD based on the submitted data. The design may be adjusted as necessary to ensure feasibility for production.
※Fabrication may also be produced for design entries other than the Grand Prize award.
(4) Judging Points
・Clarity of concept
・Relevance to the theme
・Feasibility to execute and productize
・Adopts creative originality
(5) Judges
Digi Fab Award 2025 by KOKUYO × VUILD Office
(6) Eligibility
Open to individuals, groups, regardless of age, gender, occupation, or nationality. Entrants must agree to the competition's terms and conditions.
※Award recipients may be required to enter into a separate agreement with KOKUYO and/or VUILD regarding the intellectual property rights related to the submitted proposal, prior to its production and implementation.
※Submissions must be original and unpublished work both in Japan and abroad, and participants may submit an unlimited number of entries.
(7) Entry Fee
Free
(8) Regulations
・Material: Wood only.
・Fabrication method: 3-axis CNC router. Proposals must reflect shapes and structures appropriate by this method[*1].
・Size and Structure: The total size must fit within a space of W5000 D5000 H2000mm, and the structure must be self-supporting.[*2] [*3].
・Intended usage: The design must be both durable and functional, suitable for use in a public space.
*1. The maximum size of each wooden sheet must be within W1200×L2400 t100mm.
*2. Proposals combining multiple components are allowed, provided final product fits within the specified space.
*3. Proposals requiring use of heavy machinery for assembly may be rejected.
(9) Submission
・Language: In English or Japanese
・File Format: PDF, Below 10MB
・Output Size: A2 landscape (594mm × 420mm) x1pc
・Required Contents: Title, Concept, Plan view/Cross section/Elevational
drawing[*4], CG renderings, and any other details needed to explain the design intent.
*4. Drawings must include scale and dimensions.
(10) Schedule
・Entry Opens: 1st June 2025 (Sun)
・Submission Deadline: 31st July 2025, Time 23:59 JST (Japan Standard Time)
・Award Announcement: Scheduled for Oct 2025 (Date To Be Advised)
・Installation period: Oct 2025～23rd Nov 2025 (Sun) (European Cultural Centre -Palazzo Mora) After Nov 2025 (THE CAMPUS)
※The results will be announced via KOKUYO official website and social media channels.
※The winners will be contacted in advance and may be requested to provide presentation materials/data for the exhibition.
(11) Application Method
Application via below entry form.
https://kokuyo.jp/dfa2025
(12) Organizers
KOKUYO Co., Ltd / VUILD, inc.
(13) Enquiries
[email protected]
※Enquiries by telephone, fax, or through KOKUYO Customer Service will not be accepted.
※To ensure fairness, any questions regarding the application guidelines will not be accepted.
Any information relating to the screening process or the selection results after submission will not be answered.
