Design Museum

DESIGN AWARDS

ARCHITECTURE:

University of Oxford: Dept. of Earth Sciences. By: Wilkinson Eyre Architects for (University of Oxford).
There was one similarities between most of the architecture nominees that stood out to me: unorthodox exterior surfaces, in shape or material. One such proposal was for a Department of Earth Sciences building at the University of Oxford; this struck me because I can imagine what am impact it would have among the very traditional Oxford campus and what [great] attention that would bring to that department.

 

FURNITURE:

Amplify Chandelier. By: Yves Behar and Fuseproject (for Swarovski).
In this category I saw another theme: reinventing classics. There were pieces of simple wood furniture with ceramic inserts, but I preferred the Amplify Chandelier. This piece reminded me of admiring my grandparents chandelier but it's that classic element for my generation, and energy friendly with the use of LED lights!

TRANSPORT:

Tie: Leveraged Freedom Chair. By: MIT Mobility Laboratory.
and One Arm Drive System. Jon Owen, Mark Owen.
As beautiful as some of the transport work was I found these two developments particularly moving; the Leveraged Freedom Chair allows people in developing countries more ease of movement over rough terrain, and the One Arm Drive System gives people in wheelchairs a less bulky chair that can be operated by only one wheel - ideal for users with limited mobility in one arm. The impact of these creations should be pretty clear: self-empowerment.

 
GRAPHICS:

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentelman. By: A Practice For Everyday Life.
I am a sucker for a quirky book design, so I admit I don't care what The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy are about but looking at the book I want to read it, and isn't that the point? The clean white and shocking orange is such a modern combination, it brings new life to a book that has had 129 editions printed. The initial simplicity belies the many interesting typographic surprises inside. 


WIM CROUWEL

Wim Crouwel: A Graphic Odyssey presented a lot of content, sometimes with too little explanation. However, that might just be my background talking; I wanted to know the whole thought and process behind some pieces, from conception to creation - but that might be too much for most people. The exhibit had text panels giving an overview of Crouwel's career for those interested, otherwise visitors could just look and focus on Crouwel's distinct design style. I found his work to be very effective in some situations and a little bland or indecipherable in others. Crouwel does remarkably well adapting his aesthetic to a variety of projects, but there are some limits of expressiveness it cannot reach; he relies a bit heavily on Helvetica in some cases to do the talking for him. In general I favor minimal graphic design, and Crouwel's is certainly that, and some of it (poster design) was very inspiring to me to test the limits of austerity, but some of the corporate identity work was very geometric, and it looks a bit dated now when companies want a more human face. I might draw connections to artists working in the same period like Rothko and we can see that in the colors that were en vogue, and the rigid grid system smacks of Donald Judd.