Barbara Picutti Creative Contest
Archives are a repository of stories:
the “Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” is the right time to tell them!
The theme for 2026 is:
TIES TALES
Following the success of the first two editions, our creative format “Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” is back for 2026! The project born thanks to the inspiration of our colleague Barbara Picutti, “engineer and humanist”, -as she liked to describe herself-, who passed away prematurely in 2023.
Once again this year, the challenge was reserved to colleagues (active or retired) of the MAIRE group who can draw inspiration from the Group's archival heritage, preserved in the Digital vault (digital historical archive) to write a tale.
In every company, community, or family, what holds people together is not only common goals, but the invisible bonds that are created over time: collaborations, shared challenges, small gestures of trust, resilience, and change.
“TIES TALES” invited to delve into the Group's archives in search of those hidden or forgotten bonds that have shaped individual and collective stories.
Whether it is a team that has overcome a crisis, a leader who has left their mark, a group that has built something lasting, or an innovative chemical bond that has changed history, each story will be a tribute to how relationships, collaboration, and a sense of belonging have brought people together, generating transformation and progress for the community and for the company.
Because every bond is a story, and every story reminds us of who we have been... and who we can become.
The outcome of this third edition was also extraordinary; we received 27 wonderful tales from our colleagues all over the world. But something more happened – a kind of magic unfolded this year: TIES TALES is not simply a collection of stories, but a conversation across distances, weaving together stories, places, memories and different journeys that complement one another.
The awards ceremony took place on 22 July 2026 via Teams, with the jury and fellow writers from MAIRE offices around the world, to announce one winner and five special mentions:
WINNER: Carlo Boniardi, with the tale “Volevamo andare ai mondiali”.
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
- Laura Furlanetto, with the tale “Ponti e arte dell’equilibrio nel deserto” – special mention: cultural sensitivity category;
- Elena Maria Liverta, with the tale “Il monte mangia sole” – special mention: back to our rootscategory;
- Michele Forlani, with the tale “Entanglement” – special mention: narrative voicecategory;
- Michele Dabergami, with the tale “Vai tranquillo” – special mention: MAIRE’s family category;
- Shreedhar Anand, with the tale “The human variable: a miniature at Garibaldi” – special mention: heritage category.
- To download the Barbara Picutti Creative Contest book – 2026 edition TIES TALES, click here:
THE REGULATION
Colleagues who wish to participate in the competition must follow the following rules, under penalty of exclusion:
1. The competition is reserved for employees of MAIRE Group Companies and retired colleagues. Applications from members of the contest jury, employees of MAIRE Group Companies continuously involved in the activities of Fondazione MAIRE – ETS, employees of Fondazione MAIRE – ETS, and members of its Board of Directors will not be accepted.
2. The use of AI for the creation, drafting, or revision of the text is notpermitted. Each tale must be previously unpublished. Any partial exceptions (e.g., quotes) must be declared and will be reviewed by Fondazione MAIRE – ETS.
3. Each tale may have a maximum length of 8,000 characters, including spaces.
4. Each tale can be submitted in Italian or English.
5. Each tale must relate to the theme of the 2026 edition, “TIES TALES”, focusing on the concept of legacy, and be inspired, in any way or to any extent, by materials preserved in the Digital vault (Digital Historical Archive) of the Group.
6. Each tale may focus on one or more materials from the Archive.
7. Each tale must be submitted along with images and/or archival materials used as the subject of the story.
8. Each tale may be structured in paragraphs.
9. Footnotes are not allowed.
10. Only narrative writings (true or fictional) will be accepted. Essays, manuals, historiographic texts, and other forms of writing are not allowed.
11. Each participant may submit only one tale. However, participation in pairs or groups is allowed, with the submission of a single tale.
12. Participants are fully responsible for the tale’s content, including intellectual property rights, usage rights, and compliance with applicable laws regarding confidential or sensitive information.
13. Participants agree to fully transfer the copyright of the submitted tale to Fondazione MAIRE - ETS.
TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND INFORMATION:
The tales, accompanied by images and/or archival materials referenced in the narrative, must be sent via e-mail, in Word and PDF format, to the attention of Francesca Rinaldo at the e-mail address francesca.rinaldo@fondazionemaire.com no later than March 6, 2026. Notice: the deadline has been extended to 20 March.
To browse the digital Vault (the historical digital Archive) of the Group and explore its materials, you must register for the Vault at this link: Login https://groupmaire.archivio.com/console/login. Registration is free of charge.
The tales will be evaluated by a specially appointed jury.
The most compelling tales will be awarded and subsequently highlighted through publication on the internal and external communication channels of Fondazione MAIRE – ETS as well as the MAIRE Group and may also be used by Fondazione MAIRE – ETS for additional external activities (e.g., submitted as entries for contests outside the company).
The authors will be notified of every use of their stories.
For any clarification you can contact Francesca Rinaldo, at the e-mail address francesca.rinaldo@fondazionemaire.com.
For any additional information about the contest visit Fondazione MAIRE – ETS’s website: Barbara Picutti Creative Contest 2026 | Fondazione.
Enjoy your writing!
THE JURY
The jury, chaired by President Fabrizio Di Amato, is composed of:
- Franco Ghiringhelli, Human Resources, ICT, Organization & Procurement Senior Vice President MAIRE Group
- Carlo Nicolais, Institutional Relations, Communication & Sustainability Vice President MAIRE Group
- Gianni Bardazzi, Risk Management, In-Country Value and Special Initiatives Senior Vice President MAIRE Group
- Sergio Paggi, Tecnimont Technology Implementation and Engineering Advisor Tecnimont
- Simona Dolce, Corporate Affairs, Governance, Ethics & Compliance Vice President MAIRE Group
- Maria Selli, HSE&SA and Project Quality Vice President MAIRE Group
- Sathiamoorthy Gopalsamy, Engineering & Services Projects Vice President Tecnimont
- Edoardo Disarò, Technology Process Engineer KT Tech
- Ivana Mennella, Proposal & Prequalifications Management Assistant
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE:
- Ilaria Catastini, General Manager Fondazione MAIRE — ETS
- Francesca Rinaldo, Heritage Manager Fondazione MAIRE — ETS
AUTHORS, TALES AND JURY'S MOTIVATIONS
WINNER:
CARLO BONIARDI [Senior Project Engineer, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Volevamo andare ai mondiali”
Motivation of the Jury: with writing that is at once clear, vivid and intensely cinematic, the story recreates the atmosphere of working-class Italy during the 1982 World Cup through a tale of friendship, shared dreams and desires that withstand the passage of time. Rich in tangible and instantly recognisable details — from the pin-up picture of Edwige Fenech on the wall to the minibus and the blue football shirts — the narrative anchors the memory in a world that feels intimate, ordinary and collectively shared. Football becomes more than a passion: it becomes a universal language of belonging, loss and enduring human connections. At the heart of the story lies the power of mutual trust, holding the group together across time and absence, while the memory of Italo flows silently but constantly through the narrative, lending emotional depth to every gesture and every choice. The dream of travelling to the World Cup becomes a collective ritual, where work, friendship and nostalgia converge in a compact yet captivating narrative, where simplicity itself is transformed into a genuine expressive force and a fully realised literary truth.
SPECIAL MENTIONS:
- LAURA FURLANETTO [Senior Contracts Negotiator, MAIRE S.p.A.,Italy], with the tale “Ponti e arte dell’equilibrio nel deserto” – special mention: cultural sensitivity category
Motivation of the Jury: moving between professional memoir and a story of growth, the text weaves technical experience with human observation into a narrative that traverses the world of major international projects as a space of encounter, observed with genuine curiosity, quiet respect and an absence of stereotype. Rich in evocative imagery, the writing transforms the language of engineering into a narrative form — from the meeting room described as a “glass aquarium” to the negotiating table reimagined as a “hot-air balloon” — all while preserving the clarity and credibility of the professional setting. Particularly compelling is the depiction of intercultural dynamics within large international projects, rendered tangible through vivid scenes and seemingly minor yet decisive details, such as the mediation centred around Arabic coffee and dates: a simple gesture that becomes a symbol of mutual listening and trust, transforming the industrial project into a metaphor for balance, collaboration and encounter between cultures.
- ELENA MARIA LIVERTA [Sustainability Disclosure, Reporting & Performance Senior Manager, MAIRE S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Il monte mangia sole” – special mention: back to our roots category
Motivation of the Jury: the story distinguishes itself through the seamless fusion of personal memory and professional experience, weaving together childhood in Italy and a career in the Netherlands into a single, continuous and deeply authentic emotional thread. The symbolic use of names and details — such as “Montedison”, transformed into the poetic and almost fairy-tale-like “The Sun-Eating Mount” — recasts industrial memory as narrative imagination, restoring an emotional and identity-laden dimension to technical language. Science, chemistry and work are woven together with lyricism and introspection, so that plants, materials and industrial processes emerge as living elements of the human experience. What emerges is an elegant and original narrative voice, capable of combining technical rigour, family memory and poetry, and showing how one’s roots can endure and resurface even across the most distant professional and geographical journeys taken in life.
- MICHELE FORLANI [Project Director, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Entanglement” – special mention: narrative voice category
Motivation of the Jury: recognised for the exceptional quality of its narrative voice, capable of blending introspection, irony and emotional tension in a style of rare and distinctive character. With its dense, highly controlled writing, the story turns every observed detail — from the geometry of the grave to the sound of earth falling onto the coffin — into a means of psychological exploration and layered symbolism. The language moves fluidly between elevated registers and sudden colloquialisms, creating a narrative rhythm that is both distinctive and magnetic. The final revelation concerning Aunt Giada is never used as a narrative device, but as the emotional and human fulfilment of a profound bond. A work of remarkable literary maturity, in which style and content are perfectly inseparable.
- MICHELE DABERGAMI [Construction HSE Training Coordinator, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Vai tranquillo” – special mention: MAIRE’s family category
Motivation of the Jury: with remarkable emotional restraint and narrative authenticity, the story explores the pain of loss and the difficulty of letting go of a beloved father figure. The writing completely avoids sentimentality, relying instead on the power of everyday details and silences, through which grief becomes a deeply human and universally shared experience. This mention acknowledges the author’s ability to bring into the Contest a personal story that is at once intimate and universal, reminding us that within the MAIRE community there is space not only for projects and work, but also for life stories, personal ties and the memory of people.
- SHREEDHAR ANAND [Project Engineer, Tecnimont Private Limited, India], with the tale “The human variable: a miniature at Garibaldi” – special mention: heritage category
Motivation of the Jury: through its ability to transform heritage into something tangible, technical and deeply human, the story redefines industrial heritage not
as a relic of the past, but as a living continuum of experience, knowledge and shared responsibility. The Garibaldi Towers become a symbolic place where knowledge is passed on through people, gestures and relationships forged over time. Especially striking is the reflection embodied in the image that “every pipe represented a small act of trust”: a powerful synthesis of the idea that every engineering project is, above all, the result of mutual trust, collaboration and collective memory. With elegant, measured writing, the story celebrates heritage as a living value, capable of bringing together generations, expertise and visions.
PARTICIPANTS:
PAOLO VARDANEGA [Catania Operating Center IE&CS Engineering Head of Department, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Lettera aperta alla concittadina Barbara”
FABIO SESSI [Material Supply Management Senior Engineer, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Il dono”
ALESSANDRO GESUALDI [Material Preservation Engineer, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Anno 2036”
MARCO D’ARCANGELIS [Civil Project Leader, KT - Kinetics Technology, Italy], with the tale “MATS”
CHIARA ARDORE [Digital Document Control Coordinator, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Oltre i numeri”
ENES KILINC [Peq Buyer, Stamicarbon B.V., The Netherlands], with the tale “Samsaræ”
STEFAN VANDEBRIL [Commissioning Director, Tecnimont Abu Dhabi BO, U.A.E.], with the tale “My desert legacy”
JEREMIAH MAGTOTO VALENZUELA [Construction Hse Engineer, Tecnimont Abu Dhabi BO, U.A.E.], with the tale “The saga of the dew-catchers”
FABIO FERRARI [Circular Carbon And Integrated Solutions Head Of Department, KT Tech S.p.A, Italy], with the tale “La generazionale catena di Mnemosine - 2107”
ANITHA PREMAN [Executive Assistant, Tecnimont Abu Dhabi BO, U.A.E.], with the tale “A tale of bonds spun by destiny”
ANTONIO DE SIMONE [Digital Document Controller, Tecnimont S.p.A, Italy], with the tale “Contrada Caracas”
NILESH PRABHAKAR JOSHI [Cost Control Engineer, Tecnimont Private Limited, India], with the tale “The divine connection”
MOHTAS MODIER [Intern, Fondazione MAIRE — ETS, Italy], with the tale “Beyond the mountains: a journey written in dust and determination”
GABRIELE PASINI [Project Procurement Coordinator, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Il punto di vista di una fotografia”
ENZA MESSINA [Cost Control Junior Engineer, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “I fili invisibili”
NICOLA DALBOSCO [Should Cost Analyst, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Ri-legati per sempre”
FEDERICA MESSINA [Contract Junior Engineer, Tecnimont S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “Un cantiere che profuma di casa”
ADRIANA DALLA LANA [Public Funding & Grants Specialist, Met Development S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “La pista nel cielo”
MIRKO AVAKUMOVIĆ [Senior Contract Engineer, Nextchem S.p.A., Italy], with the tale “300 humans in the loop”
MAURIZIO RIGOLIO [Group Environmental Sustainability Manager, MAIRE S.p.A, Italy], with the tale “Patience pays”
AMOL PARAB [Civil & Structural Design Engineer, Tecnimont Private Limited, India], with the tale “The last train”
* Job titles are as of the date of participation in the contest, April 2026
CELEBRATIONS
The long-awaited moment has arrived once again this year: 22 July 2026, the celebrations honoring the talent of our colleagues who, this year, have thrown themselves into the challenge with courage and passion, creating invisible bonds between us!
In the morning, via Teams from various locations around the world, the jury announced the winner and the five special mentions for this third edition of the contest.
In the afternoon, we wanted to surprise our colleagues: the Auditorium at the MAIRE headquarters in the Torri Garibaldi in Milan was transformed into a theatre, where the artistry and voices of Riccardo Mei, Margherita Mei and Andrea Carpiceci dramatised, performed and read three of the winning stories, in an intimate and atmospheric setting.
The celebration was streamed worldwide for all Group colleagues, and the recording will soon be available, with English subtitles, on this page!
Thank you to our Jury and the Technical Committee; thank you to all our colleagues who have once again put themselves on the line this year with talent and passion!
See you at the next edition!
TRIBUTE
We discovered just how imaginative and talented our colleagues are through the first two editions of the competition. But this year, another aspect caught the attention of the Jury and the Technical Committee: the invisible connections between the stories. Written at different times, in different places and by different people – yet able to complement one another, just like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Our Heritage Manager, Francesca Rinaldo, tells the story in her tribute:
This is not a collection of short stories.
It is a conversation taking place across a distance.
Each story appears to emerge on its own, self-contained and independent.
Yet, page after page, something unexpected begins to surface: one story seems to complete another, as if the same questions were passing through different voices, finding their answers elsewhere.
Everything begins with invisible connections.
In An Open Letter a fellow citizen, Barbara by Paolo Vardanega, life is woven from coincidences, memories, and connections whose meaning becomes apparent only with time. It is a persistent, almost stubborn search for meaning in human bonds.
And Invisible Threads by Enza Messina seems to take up that search, and give it form: connections are not merely memories, but deep structures that continue to unite us, even when they cannot be seen.
The theme then shifts yet never breaks; it becomes one of inheritance and passing the torch.
The Gift by Fabio Sessi tells the story of an unfinished legacy, a project left behind that finds fulfillment in another life.
And The Generational Mnemosyne Chain – 2107 by Fabio Ferrari expands that intuition: what we leave behind is never ours alone, but becomes part of a larger, collective chain that spans generations.
From here emerges another question: what remains when everything seems to be lost?
In Year 2036 by Alessandro Gesualdi, memory is fragile, entrusted to a digital medium—the last fragment of a vanished world.
And The Photograph’s Perspective by Gabriele Pasini offers a gentle response: memory endures precisely in the details, in glances and images that preserve what time would otherwise erase.
Yet not all connections are emotional. Some are forged through projects, work, and numbers.
In Beyond the Numbers by Chiara Ardore, the limits of models and simulations become apparent: something always escapes them.
Then comes 300 Humans in the Loop by Mirko Avakumović offering a clear answer: that elusive element is people themselves—with their experience, intuition, and imperfections.
It is here that the dialogue grows warmer and more human, almost intimate.
In Patience Pays by Maurizio Rigolio, an Italian gradually discovers that India is no longer merely a place of work, but a part of who he is. Time, culture, and relationships transform him.
And, in a kind of mirrored reply, The Human Variable: a Miniature at Garibaldi by Shreedhar Anand portrays Milan through the eyes of someone arriving from India: a city that becomes familiar, explored with curiosity and respect.
Two independent stories. Two opposite directions.
Yet the same theme: finding a sense of home elsewhere.
That same theme expands through stories of construction sites and deserts, where work becomes a deeply human experience.
MATS by Marco D’Arcangelis, Bridges and the Art of Balance in the Desert by Laura Furlanetto, My Desert Legacy by Stefaan Vandebril, and Beyond the Mountains: A Journey Written in Dust and Determination by Mothas Modier Anwar recount technical challenges, but above all encounters between cultures, people, and perspectives.
And A Work Site That Smells Like Home by Federica Messina seems to answer them all: even in the most distant places, what truly matters is the sense of belonging we build together.
There is also a deeper thread, almost invisible: that of destiny, cycles, and universal connection.
Samsaræ by Enes Kilinc, The Saga of the Dew-Catchers by Jeremiah Magtoto Valenzuela, and The Divine Connection by Nilesh Prabhakar Joshi explore worlds in which everything is interconnected.
And A Tale of Bonds Spun by Destiny by Anitha Preman appears to offer the key to understanding them: connections are not random but woven through time.
And what happens when connection confronts loss?
Entanglement by Michele Forlani, Vai Tranquillo by Michele Dabergami, and The Last Train by Parab Amol speak of absence, emptiness, and separation.
But A Forever Tie by Nicola Dalbosco responds with a certainty: bonds do not end; they transform.
Finally, there are places.
Contrada Caracas by Antonio De Simone, The Track in the Sky by Adriana Dalla Lana, and The Sun-Eating Mount by Elena Liverta present different landscapes and distant experiences.
Yet they all seem to say the same thing: places are not merely settings. They are part of the stories, and eventually become part of us.
And then, almost as a closing note, comes an unexpected collective voice.
We Wanted to Go to the World Cup by Carlo Boniardi speaks of friendship, dreams, and loss.
This tale gathers all the others within it, because there too—as everywhere in this collection—what ultimately remains is the ties.
And so, in the end, the structure reveals what it truly is:
not a sequence of stories,
but a network of thematic questions and answers.
Each author writes their own story.
Yet, without knowing it, someone else—somewhere else—is already writing the reply.
TIES TALES - individual tales
In this section, you can read and download individual tales from the book.
Enjoy!
DISCOVER ALL EDITIONS
To find out more about the project and the pages dedicated to all its editions, scroll down and click below!
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – ed. 2025 Route tales
In the second edition, the challenge will be to browse our digital vault, the Group's Digital History Archive, and be inspired by a project, photo, document or video to write a story on the theme of “travel,” in all its meanings: travel of memory, travel as exploration, business travel or journeys into the future...
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – ed. 2024 Tool tales
In its first edition, the challenge was to write stories, true or fancy, about ancient working tools and historical models found in MAIRE offices. Are you intrigued to read all the tales and experience the award event again?
“Barbara Picutti Creative Contest” – the concept
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.
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!
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