Now in its 16th year, the Ceramic Tiles of Italy Design Competition celebrates exceptional examples of contemporary American design featuring Italian ceramic tiles. A call for entries for the 2009 edition has been announced by the Ceramic Tiles of Italy, and submissions must be received no later than February 6, 2009.

Submissions may be entered in three categories: Residential, Commercial and Institutional. A monetary award of $5,000 will be presented to the winning architects/designers in each category at Coverings 2009, which will be held from April 21 to 24, 2009 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. Additionally, each winner will also win a five-day trip to Bologna, Italy, to attend Cersaie 2009 with a delegation of design journalists. An additional $1,000 will also be awarded to be shared among the distributor/contractor team.

In order to select from a large pool of outstanding installations, an international jury will look at the overall design of the space as well as how the tiles meet their functional and technical requirements. Projects may be new construction or renovations that were completed between January 2004 to January 2009. There is no fee or limit to the number of entries submitted. Submissions should be sent to: Italian Trade Commission, Ceramic Tiles of Italy Design Competition 2009, 33 East 67th Street New York, NY 10065. For any questions, contact Novitá Communications at (718) 857-4806 or e-mail: info@novitapr.com. For more detailed competition rules and a downloadable submission form, visit www.tilecompetition.com.