Danish Design Awards 2020

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On 11th June winners were announced for the important annual Danish Design Awards.

Normally there would be a major ceremony and celebration at the building of DI (Danske Industrie) on Rådhuspladsen - the city hall square - but the event was cancelled - another victim of the Coronavirus lockdown. 

However, information about contenders in each category of the awards and winners can be seen on line.

Many will associate Danish design with furniture and architecture and with the design of interiors but this award shows just how widely the theories and practice and skills of good design are applied across manufacturing, education and broader planning and the organisation of everyday life in Denmark including health provision and services.

The awards are made across 16 categories and it is worth looking at the web site to look at the work of all the finalists. Many of the categories were closely contested but, above all, this shows how good design has a major impact on so many aspects of Danish life.

Categories and links to the winning designs:

BETTER LEARNING – Lego Education Spike Prime
BETTER WORK – Hegenberger Speculum
FEEL GOOD, FURNITURE – Soft Lounge Chair
FEEL GOOD, PRODUCT –  MK1 – E
GAME CHANGER – E-Ferry
HEALTHY LIFE – Empelvic
LIVEABLE CITIES – P-Hus og Fitness Roof Lüders
MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD – 360 VR Safari
OUTSTANDING SERVICE – Differentiated Mediation Services
SAVE RESOURCES – SolarSack
ICON AWARD – Novo Nordisk Insulin Pens
EMPLOYMENT GROWTH – Too Good To Go
YOUNG TALENT – Julia Sand og Ditte Marie Fog
VISIONARY CONCEPTS – Poosition
PEOPLE’S CHOICE – 360 VR Safari

Danish Design Award
Danish Design Award 2020 - Finalists and Winners

 

images from the exhibition on Bryghuspladsen - select one to open full screen

the Danish Design Awards on Bryghuspladsen

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There is an exhibition on the square in front of BLOX for the annual Danish Design Awards that were announced on the 11th June.

Presumably this was planned for the lobby of the DI building so obviously there were compromises to move it to an outdoor space but the display panels now have hefty concrete bases and this means that they are much too high …. I am over 6ft tall and even I found it a painful, neck-stretching business to read the upper part of each panel …. surely an odd mistake for the Design Centre to make. The web site from the Design Center for the Awards is good but the odd scattering of display panels across this public space - designed to be seen by a team of basketball players - misses an opportunity to get the information across to a wider number of people.

the exhibition on the square continues at
BLOX, Bryghuspladsen, 1473 København K
until 23 June 2020

select any image to open in full screen slide show

 

Sustainable Chairs at Designmuseum Danmark

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At the end of last year, the Nordic Council of Ministers held an open competition for the design of sustainable chairs with one winner chosen from each of the Nordic countries.

Judges considered the sourcing of materials; the energy required in production and distribution; consideration of disposal at the end of the life of the chair and general compliance with the United Nations 17 goals for sustainability.

At the beginning of December, winning designs were shown in the Nordic Pavilion at COP 24 - the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Katowice in Poland.

The overall winner was the Danish entry - The Coastal Chair by Nikolaj Thrane Carlsen.

This competition was organised in partnership with the Nordic national design associations - Danish Design Center, Svensk Form, DOGA in Norway, Ornamo in Finland and The Icelandic Design Centre.

the chairs will be shown in the entrance area of
the design museum in Copenhagen
until 26 May 2019

Designmuseum Danmark

 

Petite
David Ericsson
Sweden

beech
components reduced to use less materials and light - just 2.5 kilo

 
 

Tangform
Nikolaj Thrane Carlsen
Denmark

shell eelgrass and carrageenan extracted from red algae
frame recycled from bamboo floorboards

 
 
 

Håg Capisco
Peter Opsvik
Norway

recycled plastic from household waste
no glue or harmful chemicals
durable, easy to disassemble and repairable
manufactured by HÅG/Flokk

 

Kollhrif
Sölvi Kristjánsson
Iceland

cork and aluminium recycled from 14,400 tea lights
manufactured by Málmsteypan Hella and Portland

 
 
 

Clash 331
Samuli Naamanka
Finland

aspen and birch
thicker at the part of the seat where the legs are glued so subframe not necessary
durable
manufactured by naamanka

The Danish Design Center has posted photographs and information about the ten designs in the finals in each country:
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden