Stories of Design: The Compasso d’Oro and Pirelli

With its innovative advertising campaigns – created by the great names of graphic art – and also with some of its products, Pirelli has helped write the history of Italian design. Consequently, the company could hardly have failed to cross paths with that of the Compasso d’Oro, the prestigious prize awarded to objects of industrial design. It has done so with some articles from the so-called “miscellaneous items” department, which ended up covering a whole variety of sectors and materials in the years of the economic boom. The products ranged from foam rubber toys to electromechanical clocks, rubber floors, and polythene containers.

The Pirelli Foundation, which now preserves the precious documentation of the history of Pirelli in the field of design, has been acknowledged by ADI, the Italian Industrial Design Association, as one of the institutions of the finest Italian design, for two of its important projects to promote Pirelli’s historic heritage. These are the Red Dot Design Award 2013 for the Rubber Soul exhibition, and the nomination of the Advertising with a Capital P publishing project for the 2020 Compasso d’Oro.

On September 5, 2025, the winners of the international version of the historic Italian design award were revealed at Expo 2025 Osaka. The award’s theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” was open to designers and companies from all countries participating in the Expo. In the Auditorium of the Italian Pavilion, during the official Compasso d’Oro International Award ceremony, promoted by ADI – the Association for Industrial Design, Pirelli was also recognized for its patented Run Forward™ technology, an innovation applied to the P Zero™ E tire, made from over 55% natural and recycled materials.