Dezeen Wire: Grafik magazine is to cease publication once again. The graphic design magazine only reopened under new ownership in February this year after its previous owners went into administration in June 2010.
Read a statement from the magazine’s editorial team and owners Woodbridge & Rees here and read critic Rick Poynor’s take on the news here.
Dezeen Wire: architect Steven Holl has been named as the winner of this year’s AIA Gold Medal. See all our stories about his work here.
Photo is by Mark Heitoff
Here are some more details from Holl’s office:
Steven Holl Named 2012 AIA Gold Medal Winner
In recognition of his contributions to architecture in both theory and practice Steven Holl has been named the 2012 AIA Gold Medal Winner. The AIA Gold Medal, voted on annually, is considered to be the profession’s highest honor that an individual can receive. Steven Holl will be honored at the 2012 AIA National Convention in Washington, D.C.
“What, in my view, especially commends him as a candidate for the Gold Medal,” said Harry Cobb, FAIA, founder of Pei Cobb Freed, “is his brilliantly demonstrated capacity to join his refined design sensibility to a rigorously exploratory theoretical project.”
Steven Holl stated, “I am grateful, I am still beginning and I consider this award shared with all my collaborators. I feel this award is a positive advocacy to make theoretical explorations and experimental works. I was on the way to my final review at Columbia University when I received the call from Washington D.C. and felt it connected to my teaching and efforts toward education. I remember John Hejduk’s statement that teaching is a social contract, and I remain committed to teaching.”
The AIA highlighted Steven Holl’s “humanist approach to formal experimentation” and his ability to “tackle the urban-scale planning and development conundrums that define success in the built environment throughout the world.”
Steven Holl leads Steven Holl Architects with partner Chris McVoy. With each project the firm explores new ways to integrate an organizing idea with the programmatic and functional essence of a building. Rather than imposing a style upon different sites and climates, or pursued irrespective of program, the unique character of a program and a site becomes the starting point for an architectural idea. While anchoring each work in its specific site and circumstance, Steven Holl Architects endeavors to obtain a deeper beginning in the experience of time, space, light and materials. The phenomena of the space of a room, the sunlight entering through a window, and the color and reflection of materials on a wall and floor all have integral relationships. The materials of architecture communicate through resonance and dissonance, just as instruments in musical composition, producing thought and sense-provoking qualities in the experience of a place. Extending this approach with ecological innovation Steven Holl Architects is recognized for the ability to shape space and light with great contextual sensitivity and to catalyze the unique qualities of each project to create a concept-driven design at multiple scales, from minimal dwellings, to university and museum works, to new hybrid models of urbanism.
“Steven not only improves the built environment, he improves the field of architecture by constantly moving us forward,” said Olson Kundig Architects’ Tom Kundig, FAIA.
Steven Holl is the 68th AIA Gold Medalist, an award that has previously gone to such prominent architects as Frank Lloyd Wright (1949), Le Corbusier (1961), Louis Kahn (1971), I.M. Pei (1979), and Fumihiko Maki (2011).
Dezeen Wire: British architect Terry Farrell has unveiled conceptual proposals to convert London’s Battersea Power Station into a park, which oppose existing plans for a mixed-used development by New York architect Rafael Viñoly.
Unlike Viñoly, whose stalled proposals to develop the Grade II listed former power station require a significant investment, Farrell intends simply to replace the sides of the building with an open colonnade and create a public park inside.
The architect hopes that these alternative plans will enable the construction of a new underground station for a fraction of the cost projected for it in Viñoly’s scheme.
We published some of Viñoly’s originals plans for the site back in 2008 – see our earlier story here.
Here’s some more text from Farrells:
Farrells release radical proposals for Battersea Power Station
Terry Farrell & Partners have released proposals for Battersea Power Station which offer a radical rethink involving an incremental two step strategy for its future.
This fresh approach aims to combat the “bigness” that is blocking the project with a plan that doesn’t rely on starting with a £1.5 billion new tube station or the refurbishment of an enormous and deteriorating ex industrial building.
Sir Terry said; “We have to learn lessons from the problems that have thwarted previous attempts to redevelop this much loved landmark.”
The first lesson that informs Farrell’s proposal is that little will happen whilst there is still a gigantic ruin in the middle of the site. Flat sales, particularly on the riverfront, will not achieve full value if the power station is not dealt with first.
Farrell’s proposal is to create a simple and beautiful finished monument at a very early stage by retaining the front and back elements and their chimneys. From most river views this would retain the full convincing form of the building by constructing a grand muscular monument with an open colonnade screen along the two flank walls.
From the river, this will appear solid and retain the full grandeur of the buildings form. From the sides, however, it will be open so that within the site and from the surrounding flats there will be views through the colonnade into a large generous parkland for people to enjoy. Such a unique and stunning park could be used for leisure and occasional events as have already taken place here over the years.
As for the transport connections, for now we could spend a fraction of the amount it would cost for a new tube station on a surface tram link or a shuttle bus service to Vauxhall station. When the tube line is up and running, which could take many years, it can service the increased people traffic there. A second phase could then involve the reconstruction of the walls and the roof to contain what is considered to be viable and appropriate at that point in time.
Sir Terry, who is an Ex-Commissioner of English Heritage and Ex-Chair of their London Advisory Committee, said;
“This is a pragmatic and incremental approach to enable the redevelopment of this famous landmark sitting in one of the largest and most valuable regeneration sites in Central London. In many ways, this strategy is already on its way to being realised as there is one long flank wall missing as well as the roof itself.
It is not the first time the power station would have been taken down and put back together again. Not many people know that the chimneys were removed during the Second World War to prevent them being targets for German bombers before being replaced.
The key to this strategy is that it will be, and will be seen to be, complete at each stage so that the redevelopment project can get started and make positive and rapid progress.”
Dezeen Wire: Oscar-winning film maker Bruce Beresford will direct a forthcoming movie about iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright – The Hollywood Reporter
The film will be centred around the architect’s Wisconsin home Taliesin, after which the film is to be named.
Dezeen Wire: a Danish news site reports that the power plant with integrated ski slope proposed by Bjarke Ingels Group has been denied funding by the City of Copenhagen due to environmental risks – Politiken
See renders of the Waste-to-Energy Plant, which would also blow smoke rings, in our earlier story.
Dezeen Wire: Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger has been named as the recipient of this year’s Royal Gold Medal for architecture.
Hertzberger will receive the award in a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London on 9 February 2012.
The Royal Gold Medal was awarded to British architect David Chipperfield last year and to Chinese-born American architect I. M. Pei in 2009.
Here’s the announcement from the RIBA:
The internationally acclaimed Dutch architect Herman Hertzberger has been named today (Tuesday 6 December 2011) as the recipient of one of the world’s most prestigious architecture prizes, the Royal Gold Medal.
Established in 1848 and given in recognition of a body of work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty the Queen and is given to a person or group of people whose influence on architecture has had a truly international effect.
Born in 1932 Herman Hertzberger opened his own firm of architects in 1960, the present-day Architectuurstudio HH in Amsterdam. One of his major influences on 20th century architecture was to challenge the early modernist belief that ‘form follows function’ – that the shape of the building was defined by its purpose. Hertzberger believes that the core function of a building does not provide the total solution to space usage: it is a framework that should enable its users to interpret and define how they inhabit it. His buildings offer flexible ‘in between’ spaces that encourage our
deeper human needs of dwelling and social activity.
His celebrated Montessori School in Delft (1960-66) rethought the way that classrooms were laid out, with L-shaped rooms creating different zones. Images of children playing and learning on broad wooden steps as a creative space inspired many architects of schools across northern Europe. His exemplary workplace Central Baheer in Apeldoorn (1968-72) was designed with the needs of the individual at its core and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in The Hague (1979-90) was one of the first buildings to develop the idea of the internal street or elongated atrium to encourage social interaction and get light into all the rooms.
RIBA President Angela Brady, who chaired the Honours Committee which selected the Royal Gold Medal winner said:
“Herman Hertzberger has transformed the way we think about architecture, both as architects and people who use buildings. His architecture is about from and space which he defines as ‘place which has not been appropriated’. Throughout his career his humanity has shone through in his schools, homes, theatres and workplaces. The RIBA is delighted to recognize the importance of his achievements and the effect his designs have on people and place.”
Herman Hertzberger will be presented with the Royal Gold Medal on 9 February 2012 at a ceremony at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, during which the 2012 RIBA International and Honorary Fellowships will also be presented.
This year’s RIBA Honours Committee was chaired by RIBA President Angela Brady with architects David Adjaye, Yvonne Farrell, Niall McLaughlin, Sarah Wigglesworth and Sir Terence Conran.
Dezeen Wire: the British Council will invite architects to conduct research projects in far-flung places and present their findings at an exhibition entitled Venice Takeaway in the British Pavilion at next year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.
The call for entries will be opened on 10 January and the ten selected proposals will be announced in March.
See all our stories about last year’s Venice Architecture Biennale here.
The details below are from the British Council:
Venice Takeaway: Ideas to Change British Architecture
The British Council today announced that the British Pavilion at the 13th Venice Architecture Biennale will be the culmination of an ambitious global research project designed to make an original and far-reaching contribution to the debate about architecture in the UK.
The Pavilion will provide an injection of new ideas based on the collective research of architects, students, writers, critics and academics. The research will focus on what – and who – makes great architecture; considering issues such as construction, housing, planning, culture, education, procurement, architectural competitions and the role of the client.
On 10 January 2012 an open call for participation and proposals will be launched; and a series of discussions about the brief will be held across the UK aimed at involving a wide-range of contributors. In March the best proposals will be selected and around ten individuals or teams will travel to unearth case studies in locations around the world.
Each ‘Explorer’ will conduct interviews and uncover how, and why something works. Explorers will be tasked with bringing back material including film, photography, writing and drawing. The exhibition will tell their stories and make a series of proposals for changing British architecture.
Venice Takeaway will build on the UK’s history of looking to the rest of the world for inspiration and ideas. Trade voyages shaped the modern world; not only filling museums, botanical gardens and markets but also changing the way we think and introducing ideas that have become part of our culture. Today the flow of ideas is made possible by the travels of architects and by overseas students who come to the UK to study, and often stay to establish their own design studios or to work for British practices.
By discovering the best ideas from around the world it is hoped that the British Pavilion will make an original contribution to the debate about architecture in the UK and influence the future direction of policy and practice at a moment of flux.
Venice Takeaway is curated by Vicky Richardson, Director of Architecture, Design, Fashion at the British Council and Vanessa Norwood, Head of Exhibitions at the Architectural Association.
Vicky Richardson says: ‘We have many good designers in the UK, but the systems and structures surrounding architecture need change. Everyone who has travelled will recognise the feeling of envy when you see a good idea. The British Pavilion aims to gather the best of these and bring them back to the UK.’
Dezeen Wire: editor-in-chief of Domus magazine Joseph Grima and Istanbul architect Emre Arolat have been appointed to curate the inaugural Istanbul Design Biennial, which will take place from 13 October to 12 December 2012.
Above: Joseph Grima
Watch our movie interview with Grima from 2009 on Dezeen Screen.
Above: Emre Arolat
Here are some more details from the Biennial organisers:
EMRE AROLAT AND JOSEPH GRIMA APPOINTED CURATORS OF THE ISTANBUL DESIGN BIENNIAL
Emre Arolat and Joseph Grima have been appointed as the curators of the first Istanbul Design Biennial, which will be realized between 13 October – 12 December 2012 by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts.
The curators, invited by the Istanbul Design Biennial, will independently interpret the theme “Imperfection”, which was adopted at the suggestion of Deyan Sudjic, Director of The Design Museum in London, who is also a member of the biennial’s advisory board. Emre Arolat and Joseph Grima will present two different approaches within the framework of the biennial theme. The framework of their curatorial studies will be announced at the beginning of 2012.
Emre Arolat studied architecture at Mimar Sinan University, and co-founded Emre Arolat Architects (EAA) with Gonca Paşolar in 2004. Arolat, who has held the presidential membership in ISMD, is a member of TMMOB Chamber of Architects. He has had teaching experiences at architectural design studios and as a project jury at several universities in Turkey. His projects with EAA have won many national and international awards, including “2006 AR Awards for Emerging Architecture, Highly Commended”, “2009 Europe & African Property Awards ” Emirates Glass Leaf Awards 2009″, “Cityscape Dubai Awards”, “2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture”, “2011 MIPIM AR Future Projects Awards” and “2011 Green Good Design Awards”. Arolat’s essays and articles have been published in various occupational publications. He has contributed to EAA’s books, Dalaman Airport, Emre Arolat: Buildings / Projects 1998-2005, and ” …with regard to”.
Joseph Grima is a Milan-based architect, editor, writer and curator. He is the editor of Domus, the internationally renowned magazine of contemporary architecture, design and art founded by Gio Ponti in Milan. He is the former director of Storefront for Art and Architecture, a non-profit gallery and events space in New York City devoted to the advancement of innovative positions in art and architecture. His work has been presented at the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Experimenta, the New Museum (NYC) among others. He has edited and contributed to a wide range of books, magazines and periodicals including Abitare, Volume, Bracket, Urban China and New Geographies, and has taught and lectured in Europe and America, most recently at the Streka Institute of Media, Architecture and Design in Moscow. He currently sits on the advisory board of the Vitra Design Museum and the Shorefast Foundation.
About The Istanbul Design Biennial
Istanbul Design Biennial, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts between 13 October – 12 December 2012, explores a wide range of fields, from urban design (environmental, urban and regional planning) to architecture, interior, industrial, graphic, fashion, textile and new media design and all creative fields related to these professions. Exhibitions, thematic installations, workshops, seminars and presentations organised within the scope of the biennial will be linked by the unifying theme of the first biennial: Imperfection.
An announcement concerning the open call for entries will be made in December 2011. In the first half of 2012, pre-events such as workshops and seminars for university students and professionals in the creative industries will be organised during the preparation process of the biennial.
Eren Holding, Koray Group of Companies and VitrA undertakes the co-sponsorship of the Istanbul Design Biennial.
The Istanbul Design Biennial Advisory Board Members are Associate Professor Mr. Mehmet Asatekin, Industrial designer, Faculty Member at Bahçeşehir University; Mr. George Beylerian, Founder and the CEO of Material ConneXion; Mr. Levent Çalıkoğlu, Art Historian, Chief curator at Istanbul Modern; Prof. John Heskett, Dean of Design Faculty at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Ms. Defne Koz, Industrial Designer, Founder of Defne Koz Studio; Mr. Faruk Malhan, Architect, founder of Koleksiyon Mobilya; Ms. Sevil Peach, Founder of Sevil Peach Architecture & Design; Mr. Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum in London; Prof. Ilhan Tekeli, Honorary Member of the Turkish Academy of Sciences; Mr. Alexander von Vegesack, Chairman of the Board of Vitra Design Foundation.
Dezeen Wire: a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle, one of the most widely used weapons in the world, is among 13 new additions to the collection of the Design Museum in London.
Other new acquisitions include a Space Invaders arcade machine, Sony Walkman cassette player and The Face magazine.
The museum is to sell its current premises and move to a new home in the former Commonwealth Institute building in south London, renovated by John Pawson.
Here are some more details and the full list of acquisitions from the Design Museum:
DESIGN MUSEUM ADDS M1 MOTORWAY SIGN, AK-47 RIFLE AND SONY WALKMAN TO ITS COLLECTION.
The Design Museum has added 13 classics to its collection. They include a Sony Walkman, a Kalashnikov AK-47 rifle and an example of the motorway signage system, whose standardised typeface, designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert in 1960, has not changed to this day.
The road signs, commissioned by the government for Britain’s new network of motorways and major roads, were tested in 1958 in an underground car park and in Hyde Park, where they were propped against trees to determine the most effective background colours and reading distances. ‘Style never came into it,’ Calvert has said of the typeface.
Calvert redesigned many of the picture signs to reflect her personal experiences. She replaced the image of a boy in a school cap leading a little girl on the school children crossing sign, with one of a girl, modelled on a photograph of herself as a child, leading a younger boy. Calvert described the old sign as being ‘archaic’, almost like an illustration from Enid Blyton.
The Design Museum’s acquisition of the 1979 Sony Walkman, a product that sold at a rate of 50 million in ten years, marks its journey into obsolescence. Nevertheless, the term ‘walkman’ is preserved in the language, listed in the Oxford English Dictionary as a description for any cassette player.
The Kalashnikov AK-47 Rifle was one of the first assault rifles to be manufactured. Developed in the mid 1940s by the Soviet Union for ease of use in arctic conditions, it’s cheap production and durability have made it one of the most widely used weapons in the world.
The Design Museum is developing its Collection ahead of its relocation to new premises at the former Commonwealth Institute, Kensington in 2014. This new Design Museum with interiors designed by John Pawson will be three times the size of its current home and will create a showcase for its world-class collection, and greatly expand its education and public events programme. The new Design Museum will be a platform for promoting design as a national asset, and supporting the next generation of creative talent.
List of new acquisitions:
Arcade Machine
Space Invaders
Tomohiro Nishikado c.1978 Taito, Japan
The invention of the Arcade Machine sparked the digital gaming revolution that now represents a multi-billion dollar industry. While the technology has moved on greatly, with industry giants such as PlayStation and X-Box striving toward ever more realistic gaming experiences, the first arcade games such as Space Invaders (1978) and Pac-Man (1980), maintain an iconic cult status.
Rifle, Kalashnikov AK-47
Mikhail Kalashnikov
, Unknown Manufacturer, 1945-1946 China
One of the most iconic and widely disseminated piece of weaponry used today, the AK-47 was one of the first true assault rifles to be manufactured. Developed in the mid-1940s by the Soviet Union for ease of use in Arctic conditions.
LookSoFlat prototype lamp
Stefan Geisbauer 2010, Ingo Maurer, Germany
The LookSoFlat prototype combines innovative design with economical energy consumption. From the side it has the appearance of an ordinary desktop lamp, but it is, in fact, completely flat. Two LEDs mimic the warmth of light produced by an ordinary lamp, yet LookSoFlat is more streamlined and energy friendly.
3D Mouse Novint Falcon
Novint Technologies, 2006.US
The Novint Falcon is a 3D mouse with force feedback. It allows gamers to feel the texture, shape, and weight of a virtual environment, providing a more immersive gaming experience.
Portable Radio
Regency TR-1
Industrial Development Engineering Associates,1954 Texas Instrument, US
Following their development in 1954, portable radios became the most popular electronic communication device in history. They facilitated the wider dissemination of popular music, for the first time allowing people to listen to music anywhere.
Type Writer
Valentine
Ettore Sottsass,1969. Olivetti, Italy
Olivetti’s Valentine typewriter made a piece of office equipment fashionable. It’s bright red case and portability made it the desirable product of its day.
The Face Magazine
1980-2004
The iconic British music, fashion and culture monthly magazine started in May 1980 by Nick Logan. From 1981 to 1986, Neville Brody was typographer, graphic designer, and art director of the magazine. Writers included Julie Birchill and Tony Parsons and photographers Juergen Teller, and David Sims.
Ipogeo Lamp
Joe Wentworth
Artemide, 2009. Italy
The design of Ipogeo was inspired by the undelivered promise of many task lights which suggest a delicate friction free movement, but in reality have stiff movement or have a disappointing drift after they have been positioned.
Childrens Chair
Tripp Trapp
Peter Opsvik,1972.Stokke, Norway
The bestselling children’s chair in the world, with well over 9 million sold since 1972. As the child grows, the chair can be adjusted, until eventually the foot rest becomes better used as the seat, and the high chair becomes a comfortable adult chair.
Kindle Electronic Book Reader
Kindle 3, 2007. Amazon, US
The devices use an E Ink electronic paper display that shows up to 16 shades of gray, minimizes power use and simulates reading on paper. In the last three months of 2010, Amazon announced that in the United States, their e-book sales had surpassed sales of paperback books for the first time.
Sony Portable Cassette Player
TPS L2 Walkman, 1979. Nobutoshi Kihara
Sony, Japan
Sony revolutionised the way in which music could be enjoyed with the introduction of the first portable music player, the Walkman. With this portable unit, music was able to accompany a person anywhere they went. Gone were the restrictions of a stationary player. The Walkman became part of culture and even part of fashion.
Portable CD Player
D50 MK׀׀ Discman
Sony, 1984. Japan
As Sony began to realize the potential of the CD, executives pushed for a means to give the CD player market momentum, moving it from audio enthusiasts to the mainstream. The DC50 was Soy’s first portable CD player.
Mini Disc Recorder
MZ1 Sony, 1992.Japan
Recordable MDs can be recorded on repeatedly; Sony claims up to one million times. Due to the dominance of MP3 players, Sony announced that it would no longer ship MiniDisc Walkman products as of September 2011.
Dezeen Wire: Quentin Blake, the man responsible for illustrating many of author Roald Dahl‘s famous novels, has been announced as the winner of this year’s Prince Philip Designers Prize.
Blake’s characterful ink and watercolour drawings have accompanied the writings of many children’s authors and television shows and are familiar to audiences around the world.
The Prince Philip Designers Prize recognises an outstanding contribution to the development of design or engineering in the UK and has been running for 52 years. Previous winners include architect Norman Foster and designers James Dyson, Kenneth Grange and Terence Conran. Last year’s award went to IDEO founder Bill Moggridge – see our previous story
Here are some more details from the Design Council:
Famous Roald Dahl illustrator wins Prince Philip Designers Prize 2011
Quentin Blake, one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators and the man who created the world-famous images of the Big Friendly Giant and Matilda, will be named the winner of the 2011 Prince Philip Designers Prize by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at the Design Council in London this evening, Tuesday 29th November.
Quentin Blake is perhaps best known for his illustrations of Roald Dahl’s books, but his distinctive pen, ink and watercolour drawings have also accompanied the work of many other children’s authors like Michael Rosen and Joan Aiken. He has illustrated Dickens, Carroll and Lear as well as originating his own characters including Mister Magnolia, Mrs Armitage and Clown.
Since his first drawings appeared in Punch when he was 16, Blake has become recognised around the world in a 60-year career. He became widely known in the 1970s, presenting the BBC’s Jackanory, where he illustrated the various stories on screen. He became the first ever Children’s Laureate in 1999.
Two of this year’s nominees received Special Commendations from the judges: Sir David Chipperfield CBE RDI, one of the UK’s most distinguished architects and this year’s winner of the Royal Gold Medal from RIBA and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, and Saeed Zahedi, one of the world’s leading designers of medical prosthetics, who has been at the forefront of breakthroughs which improve quality of life for people, including military personnel treated at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.
This year’s nominees also included:
Cecil Balmond, winner of the Gretna Landmark on the England-Scotland border, and co-designer of the Orbit for London’s 2012 Olympics, is hailed as one of the greatest structural engineers and designers
Tim Brown, the leading pioneer of ‘design thinking’ and the CEO of global design and innovation firm IDEO.
Dinah Casson RDI, FRCA, FCSD, one of the world’s most respected environmental and exhibition designers.
Stephen Jones, one of the UK’s foremost milliners, who has transformed millinery since first opening a salon in 1980, and who has trained other leading designers including Philip Treacy and Noel Stewart.
Sir Paul Smith, arguably the most successful British fashion designer ever. Since opening his first shop in Nottingham in 1970 he has built an international business that has defined the way three generations of men – and latterly women – have dressed.
Shane Walter, the co-founder of onedotzero, which since 1996 has been at the forefront of digital design and culture with festivals, public events and publishing projects, and an education programme for emerging talent.
Chris Wilkinson OBE and Jim Eyre OBE, co-founders of Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the first practice to win the Stirling Prize twice and the only one to have won it two years in a row.
The work of the nominees provides a snapshot of the creative and commercial strengths of the UK design industry. Their biographies and examples of their work can be viewed on the Design Council’s website.
This is the final year that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh will deliver the Prize. Having headed up the judging panel and presented the Prize since its inception in 1959, he will be stepping down from the Prize as he reduces his work-load and royal responsibilities in his 90th year.
David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, commented: “No-one can be in any doubt of the extraordinary dedication to promoting and celebrating design which has been shown by His Royal Highness during more than half a century of expert and insightful leadership of the Prince Philip Designers Prize. This year’s winner and nominees likewise demonstrate a dedication to creative excellence, but they are also exemplars of the international commercial success which springs from that creativity. Now more than ever, we must celebrate our world-leading designers, innovators and creatives, and their vital contribution to our economic future.”
To mark HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s contribution to the promotion of UK design, the Design Council has commissioned two very special gifts which will be presented to Prince Philip at the Prize-giving this evening. The first is a unique hand-drawn certificate (similar to that which has been presented to all Prize-winners for the last half century) – created by this year’s winner Quentin Blake, featuring a cartoon of Prince Philip in the artists’ inimitable style.
The certificate is accompanied by a one-off book of original artworks drawn by over forty of the Prizes’ previous winners, nominees and judges including Sir Terence Conran, Vivienne Westwood, Jeff Banks, Lord Norman Foster, Kenneth Grange and Sir Paul Smith.
The Prince Philip Designers Prize has been in existence since the early days of the Design Council. It was created by HRH as a response to post-war austerity, and aimed to stimulate and reward elegant solutions to design problems. For 52 years the Prize has been awarded for the best in UK design from products and graphics to buildings and feats of engineering, and has put the spotlight on designers for influencing and shaping our daily lives.
Former winners of the Prize include Bill Moggridge (2010) who designed the world’s first laptop, Thomas Heatherwick (2006); the architect Lord Foster of Thamesbank (2004); Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran (2003); Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2001) and inventor Sir James Dyson (1997).
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