1977

ICSID PHILIPS AWARD FOR DESIGN IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

PORTABANDIERA - FLAG STANCHION

International competition - Eindhoven - Netherlands

With this competition, the Philips Corporation was looking for an object that could better living conditions and resolve problems in the Third World, cultivating the illusion that a high-technology product would be able to alleviate the problems of developing countries.

Our proposal openly challenged this idea.

At the time the world was divided into two blocks, one living under the influence of the United States of America and, the other, under sway of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It was the height of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall was still very far off.

‘Portabandiera’ (Flag Holder) is made up of a vertical pole that supports two electrical fans and two flags (U.S.A. and U.S.S.R)  arranged one opposite the other.

The pole is made of cast aluminum (50 mm in diameter), cut into telescopic parts to allow the addition of supplementary tubes.

Cast aluminum is also used for the structure of the base (furnished with suitable  nylon gaskets so that it can stand on the ground) as well as for the shaped flat element that allows the attachment of the fans and flags

The fans are Philips brand propeller-type with 500 mm wide blades, run by a 1/3 HP motor, 270 W,  6500 m³/h, 14.400 revolutions; these are attached, by a thin wire, to a control panel that allows them to be turned on either in an alternating sequence or simultaneously. This means that, according to “how the wind blows”, the operator can choose which way to unfurl the flags.