The Dutch Design Award inside the Dutch Design Week
According to the visitors of Dutch Design Week 2019, Power Plant by Marjan van Aubel Studio has earned the Public Award of the Dutch Design Awards.
Every country has his own prizes and awards, Germany is the country with more design prizes in Europe: Red Dot, German Council and If but we find several “Designers of the year” in Europe, we find this category at Miami Basel Fair and in the Brittish Design Awards given by the Museum of Design. In Italy, we found the Compasso de Oro and in Spain de The Delta Awards and in the Netherlands we can find the Dutch Design Award.
When arrives de Dutch Design Week at the end of October is the time to check for the Dutch Design Awards. The Dutch Design Awards saw the light of day in 2003 thanks to BNO and DesignLink. Since 2005 DDA has had its office in design capital Eindhoven. The competition itself, the Awards Show and the retrospective exhibition make the Dutch Design Awards a unique platform.
Every year Dutch designers are invited to submit their work for a Dutch Design Award. Committees consisting of design experts decide upon the winners based on the submissions and scouted work. Participation is open to designers and design agencies living and working in the Netherlands or located abroad.
We can find on their website a Gallery of all the finalists and winners of the previous editions, in all the different categories: Service &Systems, Design Research, Habitat, Product, Fashion, Prize for young talent, Best Client Award, and The annual public prize (Future Award). Every two years the BNO (Beroepsorganisatie Nederlandse Ontwerpers) Piet Zwart is given.
The Product Design Category had different subcategories like Interior, Packaging, Consumer, Industrial and Autonomous Design. It was very interesting the Autonomous Design Category. Before 2008 Autonomous Design category didn’t exist and Product Design prize only has the categories: Consume, Leisure time, Industrial, Mobility and Sustainability, interior…
Nowadays Product design Is defined as industrial design or limited editions that improve people’s lives and/or make life easier. Products for consumers, citizens, and the B2B market. Think, for example, of products or objects for the working environment, living environment and the mobility of humans and/or animals, such as cars, boats, bikes, wheelchairs, walking frames, household appliances, lighting, furniture, and accessories.
Coming back to see what was Autonomous Design results thought the lasts years. In 2009 was the time of the Real Time by Maarten Baas for visualising time as a phenomenon experienced by one person as flying by and by another person as passing intolerably slowly. He applies his visual, philosophic idea in four different projects. In Grandfather Clock, for instance, a man keeps redrawing the hands of the clock.
Inside the category Autonomous Design (2010) the Paper Table, designed by Scholten and Baijings for the entire concept possible through working with so many different manufacturers. The starting point of folded crockery made from paper remains visible in the end result, made with a choice of materials such as porcelain, glass and textiles. The result gives a real sense of invention and fragility.
In 2011, Endless by Dirk Vander Kooij Won By continuously ‘spitting’ a kind of shoelace of melted recycled plastic in every conceivable color, an old robot arm from a Chinese factory constructs a chair lying on its side. Layer after layer, the chair gets its recognizable yet technically unidentifiable shape, fitting into the newly emerged need of designers to develop their own production machinery.
In 2012, Bertjan Pot started a material experiment with the aim of constructing a flat carpet by threading ropes. Ultimately, the experiment resulted in a series of impressive masks. That won the Autonomous Design
In 2013 Christien Meindertsma compiled a book about the five hundred jumpers knit by Loes Veenstra from Rotterdam. A tribute to ‘ordinary people’. Design ensures that people come together, with a positive effect on the quality of life. A small but interesting story thus becomes creative and innovative unlocked.
Christien Meindertsma won also the 2016 Product Edition with The biodegradable Flax Chair is made from flax fibre and PLA, two environmentally responsible materials that are (insufficiently) valued according to the committee. Christien Meindertsma’s strong concept has the potential to change this. The fairly basic-looking chair she developed has been manufactured soundly, and produces minimum waste in the design phase. Worthy of mentioning in this project is the role of the new Label Breed, which links designers to the Dutch manufacturing industry.
In 2014 the Autonomous Design Category was eliminated. The Product Design Award was more industrialized products with the representation of the Rescue Boat designed by Spark Design & Innovation. The jury recognized Aesthetics as secondary to functionality. Effectiveness underlined by the fact that the design not only is approved by the Fire Department, but actually used by aid workers. The tilting system is innovative and provides a significant improvement.
In 2017 the Quooker Flex: the ‘boiling water tap’ and the Sheltersuit 4.0 a water and wind-tight jacket that can be transformed into a sleeping bag
In 2018 was the first time in DDA-history that the prestigious International Jury Award has been won by not one, but three designers. The international jury is particularly keen on the Dutch approach to collaboration. The winning projects had already been awarded Dutch Design Awards in the categories Habitat and Service & Systems and Best Client.
The jury consisted of the following design experts (in no particular order): Cameron Sinclair (US), Lilli Hollein (AT), Ikko Yokoyama (HK), Yuval Saar (IL), Pieter Aarts (NL), Joost Alferink (NL), Saskia van Stein (NL), Roosje Klap (NL) and Jaapjan Berg (NL) led by chairman Job Meihuizen (DDA) had selected three pieces:
In 2018 the Product Design category was for 3 Products: Circa, Bloko fabric and a Transparant Charging Station
Circa, The smart alarm that helps you sleep better. Designed by Robert Bronwasser, Yannick Brouwer and Daan Weijers. The jury selected the product for Developing a ‘connected product’ requires close collaboration between industrial and interaction design, software and hardware development. The jury is enthusiastic about the design and relevance of the theme: an alternative to being connected 24/7 through your smartphone. The jury also appreciates the fact that it is an entirely Dutch/European-produced product.
Aleksandra Gaca created a new version of her BLOKO fabric: a sound-absorbent textile with a woven 3D structure, from a larger collection of Architextiles. The design aims to make the cabin of Renault’s autonomous, electric SYMBIOZ concept car as comfortable as any modern home interior. In the TextielLAB (Textielmuseum, Tilburg), Gaca — a pioneer in 3D woven textiles and an expert in their production and use — developed a textile translation of the vision of the French car manufacturer. The jury admires the innovative fabric designs of Aleksandra Gaca, making the application of the material suitable for the interior of the car of the future as a mobile personal space, as well as more traditional applications.
If many electric cars have to be charged, a smart charging algorithm will determine when your vehicle can be charged. And this can make charging your car take longer than planned. How can you be sure that decisions as to who gets priority are taken honestly? ElaadNL and Alliander commissioned The Incredible Machine to design the Transparent Charging Station to show how the energy available is distributed, and on the basis of which factors. This design gives smart cities a way to share their transparency with citizens. With the prototype, the developers demonstrate the added value of transparency for the user.
The category of Prize for Young Talent is an incentive award for young and talented designers that graduated no longer than five years ago. In the judging process the designer plays a central role; the jury assesses the quality of the entire portfolio. Had been won by Dave Hakkens (2014), Teresa Van Dongen(2015), Tom van Soest (2016) Frank Kolkman (2017). This year 2018 was won by three young designers: Lisa Konno, Manon van Hoeckel and Olivier van Herpt.
Lisa Konno is a Fashion Designer that presented her debut collection ‘For the Workers’: an ‘anti-sweatshop statement’, to raise awareness of the conditions in the fast fashion industry At 2015. After she traveled to Rwanda with the clothing brand Afriek to create a women’s clothing collection with the help of local garment-makers. The inspiration for her latest collection and the star of the show is her Japanese father, Nobuaki Konno, who emigrated to the Netherlands in 1977. This project is her artistic response to, and ironic comment on, the integration debate: a visual celebration of cultural misunderstandings and tourist clichés, in which father Nobu plays the main role as muse and source of inspiration.
Manon van Hoeckel , as a social designer, develops tools that encourage strangers to chat with each other. She did precisely the same in her ‘wassalon’, or launderette, which was part of the ‘Change the System’ exhibition in Boijmans Van Beuningen. The laundry was disruptive, questioned the role of the museum and brought together different target groups. In ‘Limbo Embassy’ — a traveling embassy for refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented migrants — Van Hoeckel gives refugees the role of ambassadors, thus showing the refugee issue in an entirely new light. With her ‘Making Money’ project, she investigates how undocumented refugees can or should contribute to society.
Olivier van Herpt works on the interface of traditional crafts and contemporary industrial design, and focuses on what separates these two domains: the machine. Van Herpt graduated with an unusual collection of ceramic bowls, bowls and vases, made with an advanced 3D printer that he had developed himself over a two-year period. He is presently working on a new 3D printer which will enable him to create organic forms, although he will probably explore other techniques and materials too, with equal dedication. He also seeks to democratize the production process and to reduce the distance between designer and user by making his self-developed technologies available to everyone.
The Dutch Design Award 2018 selects 3 winner prizes to the Dutch approach to collaboration.
Are very interesting the category The Best Client Award, this award is for clients who strategically make use of designers and design for the benefit of their company or institution. With this award good clientship is rewarded in relation to design. Important selection criteria are the level of professionalism, strategy, sustainability and innovation.
The best Client Award from Dutch Design Award has been won by Nlisis (2008),CitizenM (2009), Royal Vkb (2010), Ahrend (2011), Hotel the exchange (2012), Heijmans (2013), Artis (2014), Eindhoven365 (2015), Brabantia (2016), The royal flora Holland(2017).
This 2018 had been for Catharijne Convent, Royal Delft reveals ‘Augmented Blueware’, Social label.
The Design Research Award spreads scenarios and concepts which, based on solid research, present an insight into the future. By this we mean speculative design, applied research, materials research and ideas that offer a perspective to new products/solutions.
The emphasis lies on the research phase. In 2018, Had won Amateur Cities and New Generations in collaboration with Hats & Tales, MacGuffin Magazine with the Cabinet number and MX3D Bridge by Joris Laarman (2018) Previously this year had won: Atelier Nl (2017), In Vitro Meat Cookbook (2016), Mortal Cities & Forgotten Monuments (2015) Uruzgan’s Legacy (2014).
This 2019 the winners for the different categories are:
Product: The Sett CE by Gispen is a timeless design sofa, designed by Peter van de Water and made from 95 percent recycled materials. Considered “a very good result of applied circular thinking and of taking responsibility of our own footprint. The method and scale with which these sofas can be produced should serve as an example to the entire manufacturing industry.”
Fashion: The De Rrusie Suit by Bonne Suits in collaboration with Kevin ‘De Rrusie’ Lucas, is Bonne Reijn’s second design. With his self-proclaimed ‘poor man’s suits’ he aims to question and reverse the expectations people have of clothing — and suits in particular — and thus increase and accentuate the attention for personal style in the world of fashion. The brand responds to the saturation in style that many people experience in a fashion landscape where luxury is democratised. People want individuality. Less, but better. And that is what this is. Bonne Suits is a proven concept of our time.
Habitat: Lochal i civic architects, braaksma & roos architectenbureau, inside outside / petra blaisse. The LocHal is the new beating heart of Spoorzone Tilburg. The former locomotive workshop has been transformed into a public city hall.
Communication: OPENRNDR is a modern, open source framework for creative coding, was considered “generous, beautifully designed platform of a very high quality, developed with infectious enjoyment. A revolution for the profession; a living organism that facilitates and challenges the design community.”
Design research: Re-source by Ester Van de Wiel, Joost Adriaanse, David Hamers, Ginette Verstraete. “RE-source approaches a complicated theme with a pleasant playfulness. The project has a richness that does justice to the complexity of the topic of circularity.”
Service & systems: Bmx Live Visualisation i clever°franke. The Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU) wants to elevate Freestyle BMX — an Olympic sport for the first time in 2020 — to a higher level. Clever°Franke goes further than the pure visualisation of real time data: this tool helps with learning and analysing. The jury considered: “With this tool, Clever°Franke has unlocked numerous possibilities for this branch of sport, as well as other sports and sport reporting.”
Best commissioning: Gemeente Asterdam Puccinimethod, the word of the Puccinimethode stands for the high-quality physical design of Amsterdam’s public spaces: all the roads, squares, parks and gardens.
Young designer: Simone Post, after graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven (cum laude), textile and product designer Simone Post co-founded the Envisions collective. Her work is consistent and she enters into interesting collaborations with various industries. The jury considered: “Her careful research and her smart, systematic approach are always translated into an innovative aesthetic, with Simone Post’s characteristic signature.”
The BNO Piet Swart 2019 had gone to Frans Bevers, the spatial designer of OPERA.
The Public Award is presented to the winner with the most public votes. During Dutch Design Week the public can vote for winners from the categories. According to the visitors of Dutch Design Week 2019, Power Plant by Marjan van Aubel Studio has earned the Public Award of the Dutch Design Awards. Marjan van Aubel Studio researches a solution for two of the largest problems of our time: the food and energy issues. The jury considered: “Power Plant is a beautiful project with great value, that combines existing technology with design power to create new possibilities in energy transition.”
Other Information about Design Prizes very soon.
