Hungarian Design Award 2009: from maternity clothes to tombstone
The most prestigious recognition - looking back on a history of three decades - in the Hungarian design profession was received by six award winners and four special award winners this afternoon in the Museum of Applied Arts. The Management Prize newly established by the Hungarian Design Council to promote companies and organisations that integrate design into their business practice was also presented at the event. The council celebrated the 30th birthday of the Hungarian Design Award by presenting a lifetime achievement award and mounting a poster exhibition.
Hungarian Design Award winners in 2009
262 projects, four categories, six award winners and four special award winners is the summary of the Hungarian Design Award 2009 in numbers. Mathematical calculations reveal that of the four categories – Product, Concept, Visual Communication and Student – the first two had the highest number of applicants: 73 and 87, respectively; the area of visual communication was the most underrepresented with 37 projects.
This year's winners presented a colourful display of domestic design culture in 2009. The jury's favourite projects included the Ille-Olle maternity clothing that highlights the beauty of pregnancy and will potentially appeal not only to expectant mothers; skills developing toys for children fittingly named PILOP; the internationally recognised medical imaging equipment Any Scan by Mediso Ltd.; and the tombstone called "Seeyou", addressing one of the taboo subjects of the 21st century. Since designers work to make our lives more liveable and enjoyable from the cradle to the grave, it can be confidently claimed that the elements of design accompany us in our everyday lives. This is confirmed by the latest Je Suis Belle collection inspired by the tangle of the winter forest, and the same logic applies to eScart, a multifunctional electronic scooter which can be used for travel, transportation and even as a trailer by ardent cyclists. Another award-winner in the area of transport was the Corvus Racer aerobatics aircraft with a maximum speed of 320 km/h developed with the participation of universities and a well-known Hungarian pilot. This year's winning projects clearly show a return to tradition, represented by an elaborate packaging design for the products of a glove-maker in the city of Kecskemét, and Luca Görömbei's furnace molten and hand-burnished glass elements. In the visual communication category the jury's favourite was the mature, black-and-white-based image design made for Merész Fotó.
Design Management Award – for the first time
The Design Management Award was established to promote and recognise companies and organisations that professionally integrate design strategy in their business to achieve their objectives. The inaugural award – similarly to the Hungarian Design Award – is managed by the Hungarian Design Council. Based on the decision of the jury of acclaimed Hungarian experts, the prize went to a company and an organisation, the former being TUNGSRAM Schréder Zrt., a familiar name associated by most people with the lighting project of Budapest's Liberty Bridge.
The jury statement highlighted the company's conscious effort to apply design strategy by employing internal designers and external design studios in implementing their project. The winner in the category of institutions, Műcsarnok, integrated Ernst Museum and Dorottya Gallery in their overall image ensuring that the various characters of the new organisations would be distinctly visible in the design.
30th birthday – crowned with a Life Achievement Award and a poster competition
On the occasion of this anniversary, marked by a round number, the project manager of the Hungarian Design Award launched a commemorative poster competition for the students of three Hungarian universities. The applicants had to submit projects on the past three decades of the award. The exhibition of the posters can be viewed in the Museum of Applied Arts from 6 October to 22 November 2009 alongside the winners, special prize-holders and other exhibitors.
Assisted by the professional support of the Hungarian Design Council, the Ministry of Education and Culture assigned their Life Achievement Award to interior architect József Király, and it was presented to him at the Hungarian Design Award ceremony.
The Hungarian Design Award ceremony forms part of the Design Week Budapest 2009 programme series. The Hungarian Design Council is the patron institution of the Design Week Budapest 2009 series running 2-11 October 2009.
Hungarian Design Award 2009 winners:
|
Category |
Project |
Designers |
|
Student |
A playful set for dyslexic children |
Krisztina Nagy |
|
Architectural glass panels |
Luca Görömbei |
|
|
Concept |
eScart, electronic passenger and utility vehicle |
Balázs Lenkei |
|
Visual Communication |
Merész Fotó image design |
Zsombor Krisztián Kiss |
|
Product |
2009/2010 autumn-winter collection |
Je Suis Belle / Dalma Dévényi and Tibor Kiss |
|
AnyScan, medical equipment |
Tamás Bendzsel / Mediso Ltd. |
Hungarian Design Award 2009 special prize winners:
|
Special Prize of the Ministry of Education and Culture |
|
|
Project |
Designers |
|
SEEYOU" tombstone |
Péter Kucsera, Ákos Maurer-Klimes / IVANKA |
|
Special Prize of the State Secretariat for Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture |
|
|
Project |
Designer |
|
Image for leather gloves and packaging |
Kovács György |
|
Special Prize of the Hungarian Design Council |
|
|
Project |
Designer |
|
Ille-Olla maternity clothing |
Lenke Illésy |
|
Special Prize of the National Office for Research and Technology |
|
|
Project |
Designer |
|
Corvus Racer 540 one-man aerobatics aircraft |
András Voloscsuk / Corvus Aircraft Ltd. |