Array by Snøhetta for mdf italia wins the ADI Compasso d’Oro

Image by: Shestakovych Studio

Array, the modular sofa system designed by Snøhetta for mdf Italia has been awarded the 29th edition of the ADI Compasso d’Oro for. The award recognizes Array’s innovative approach to comfort, flexibility, and responsible production – a system that redefines how furniture can adapt, endure, and support more conscious ways of living. With this recognition, Array becomes part of the ADI Compasso d’Oro Historical Collection, declared in 2004 by the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities to be of “exceptional artistic and historical interest”.

Array distills the idea of a sofa into six slim, interconnected modules that can be configured with ease across domestic and contract environments. Designed for maximum adaptability, the system balances versatility with simplicity, enabling intuitive planning and seamless integration into a wide range of spatial contexts.

Redefining comfort

Built with longevity at its core, Array is designed for disassembly, allowing components to be repaired, replaced, or recycled over time. The injection‑molded base incorporates a high percentage of recycled material, creating a lightweight, hollow structure that minimizes environmental impact without compromising durability. A removable bio‑foam cover made with 51% recycled content, along with easily replaceable textiles secured by elastic ropes, further supports a circular approach to maintenance and renewal.

“Receiving the Compasso d’Oro is a great honour, and a meaningful recognition of the close collaboration behind Array. Together with mdf italia, we were able to combine their unique resources and ambitions with ours to develop a design where clarity, flexibility, and responsibility are built into every detail. For us, this award affirms that design impact is not measured by scale alone, but by the ability to create solutions that remain relevant over time,” says Marius Myking, Director of Snøhetta Product Design.
Photo by: Thomas PaganiPhoto by: Nudesign
“Receiving the ADI Compasso d’Oro Award for Array represents a recognition of great value for mdf italia. The project fully expresses the company’s direction: to give shape to products with a strong identity, where aesthetics, function and sustainability come together in a coherent and recognizable way. Array interprets an idea of design born from a shared design vision with Snøhetta, capable of reinterpreting the values of mdf italia in light of new ways of living in and inhabiting spaces,” says Marco Cassina, Head of Marketing and Communication at mdf italia.

In addition to the sofa system, Snøhetta has designed a family of side tables that extend Array’s flexible logic. Available in four variants – including one designed to fit directly between sofa modules – the tables integrate seamlessly with the system, completing a coherent furniture family suited to a wide range of environments. The full Array collection is offered in a broad palette of colors and textiles and is now also available in an outdoor version.

Image by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych Studio

With Array, Snøhetta and mdf italia present a forward‑looking vision for furniture design – one that unites adaptability, longevity, and conscious production. The Compasso d’Oro award underscores the relevance and impact of this approach within the contemporary design landscape.

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Photo by: NudesignImage by: Shestakovych StudioPhoto by: Thomas PaganiPhoto by: Nudesign
Photo by: NudesignPhoto by: NudesignImage by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych Studio
Image by: Shestakovych StudioImage by: Shestakovych StudioPhoto by: Nudesign
Photo by: NudesignPhoto by: NudesignPhoto by: NudesignPhoto by: NudesignPhoto by: Nudesign

About mdf italia
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​mdf italia is a Milan-based design company. Founded by Bruno Fattorini in 1992 and now run by the Cassina family, it creates and produces designer items and furnishings characterised by design challenge and essentiality of form. The vocation of mdf italia has always been to create objects that not only become icons but will also succeed in defining the canon of contemporary design. Inspired by simplicity and using synthesis as design methodology, the mdf italia products are characterised by lightness of form and compositional balance, innovative in terms of technology and materials.

mdf italia products live in the most diverse contexts, thanks to a universal and timeless design. Essential, functional and flexible, they have no ambitions to dictate the aesthetics of the surrounding area by their presence, but rather respect the spirit of every space they inhabit. With a presence in over fifty countries, mdf italia counts world-wide realisations in the domestic, corporate and contract sectors.

 

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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

Disclaimer: All materials provided by Snøhetta are intended exclusively for editorial use to communicate the specified project(s). The use of this material for commercial or third-party purposes is strictly prohibited. No material may be edited or altered from its original state in any manner. Credit must be given for all content used, acknowledging Snøhetta and/or the photographer or creator as the source. By using Snøhetta's press material, you agree to these terms and conditions.

 

Contact

Snøhetta Akershusstranda 21, Skur 39 N-0150 Oslo, Norway

press@snohetta.com

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