BARBARA PICUTTI CREATIVE CONTEST
The “Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” is a creative format dedicated to MAIRE colleagues, named after the memory of colleague Barbara Picutti, an “engineer and humanist” - as she liked to call herself -, who left her imprint.
The project enhances the company's history and heritage, testing colleagues' creativity and courage to dare: each year a competition is launched, a call to action to “create” something. The object can be an ancient work tool or a project model unearthed in the MAIRE office storerooms, the historical archives or Digital Vault drawings and materials, but imagination always rules!
In 2024, the challenge was to write short stories about the Group’s historic tools and project models;
in 2025, to tell stories about ‘journeys’, in all their forms, drawing on materials from our digital vault;
in 2026, to draw inspiration from the theme of ‘bonds’ to write a story by delving into our digital vault.
Click below to discover all the stories, the winners and the celebratory events from every edition of the project:
TOOL TALES – 2024 edition,
ROUTE TALES – 2025 edition
and TIES TALES – 2026 edition!
But that’s not all! To celebrate the talent, courage and passion of our colleagues who have taken part in every edition, we’ve turned these wonderful stories into podcasts, brought to life by the masterful voices of Riccardo and Margherita Mei.
Fancy listening to them all? Check out the Foundation’s Spotify channel!
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – 2026 ed. Ties Tales
In the third edition, the challenge was to explore the Group’s archives (through our Digital Vault) in search of those hidden or forgotten “bonds” that have shaped individual and collective stories. The result? 27 wonderful stories—and… a theatre! Are you curious to read them all and relive the awards ceremony?
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – 2025 ed. Route Tales
In the second edition, the challenge was to explore our Digital Vault, —the Group’s Digital Historical Archive—and draw inspiration from a project, a photo, a document, or a video to write a story on the theme of “journey” in all its meanings: a journey through memory, a journey of exploration, a business trip, or a journey into the future. The result? 37 wonderful tales! Are you curious to read them all and relive the awards ceremony?
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – 2024 ed. Tool Tales
In its first edition, the challenge was to write tales —whether based on fact or fiction—about antique tools and historical models discovered in the MAIRE offices. The result? 29 wonderful stories! Are you intrigued to read them all and relive the awards ceremony?
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – the concept
The “Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” is a creative initiative for MAIRE colleagues, named in memory of our colleague Barbara Picutti, an engineer and humanist—as she liked to describe herself—who left her mark. The project celebrates the company’s history and heritage by putting colleagues’ creativity and courage to the test: each year, a challenge is launched to write a tale based on materials from the Group’s archives.
Our historical equipment
The old work tools of architects and engineers tell a piece of our country's industrial history.
DIGITAL ARCHIVE
This digital vault is an information technology platform where about 20,000 drawings, plans, documents from MAIRE's historical archive have been digitized; it enables efficient and quick consultation of materials by cross-referencing descriptive categories, metadata, vocabulary terms, chronological references and tags.
Register for free and explore the vault!