Releases
Summit meeting in Milan: The ein&zwanzig jury selects the Best of Best
The 'ein&zwanzig' ('twenty-one') awards were presented this evening on the occasion of Milan Design Week 2018 in Zona Tortona. The 21 most innovative product and project ideas of talented international up-and-coming designers received this prestigious accolade. The climax of the event was the awarding of the Best of Best prize, which went to Berlin-based Sofia Souidi for the design of her Gradient lamp. All of the winning projects will be on view at the ein&zwanzig exhibition in Milan, from 17 until 22 April.
Nature as a source of inspiration
Sofia Souidi received the Best of Best award for her Gradient lamp. She recently received a master's degree in product design from the Royal College of Art in London and is now living in Berlin. The inspiration for her submission was natural sunlight whose colour and intensity change according to the time of day, the weather and the environment. Souidi's Gradient lamp takes its cue from these changes, in that it changes colour from time to time and the intensity of the light varies according to the amount of incident sunlight. Souidi’s goal was to create a bridge between the exterior world and interior spaces, and to address the question of how, in this age of mega-cities, people can feel a connection with nature.
A much sought-after award for young designers
The international attention and prestige attached to the 'ein&zwanzig' awards is demonstrated by the response it attracted: 736 works from 60 countries covering the fields of design and lifestyle were submitted – 30 percent more than in the previous year. The 21 prize-winners were selected by a high-calibre international jury from the worlds of design and industry including top-class designers such as Konstantin Grcic, Stefano Giovannoni, Philipp Mainzer and Stephen Burks.
"This year we were particularly drawn to projects that developed a completely new concept based on traditional technologies" said Andrej Kupetz, chairman of the jury and executive director of the German Design Council.
Photos pertaining to the 21 prize winners are available from our dropbox at http://bit.ly/presse21.
The prize winning international newcomers projects will be on view from 17 until 22 April at Via Tortona 31 in Milan. The exhibition will be open from 10 am to 5 pm on 17 April, and from 10 am to 9 pm from 18 until 22 April.