The Brit Insurance Design Awards is an opportunity for the most innovative and forward-thinking designers to come together and showcase their work at the Oscars of the design world.
Celebrating design from a range of disciplines that include architecture, products, graphics, furniture, transport, fashion and interactivity, the awards enlist experts to nominate designs from the past 12 months. Last year’s overall winner was the Folding Plug by Min-Kyu Choi. Now in production, this will revolutionise a humble but essential piece of everyday equipment.
Chairing the 2011 jury of judges was the celebrated and outspoken broadcaster and critic Stephen Bayley, whose books, articles and exhibitions have helped frame the contemporary idea of ‘design’ for more than 30 years. He was also the first-ever director of the Design Museum. Current director Deyan Sudjic says of him: ‘Stephen’s sharp eye and sharper pen make him a natural choice for chair of judges, a jury that is looking for design that matters.’
Bayley was joined on the jury by art and design curator Janice Blackburn, graphic designer Mark Farrow, co-founder of digital agency Poke Simon Waterfall, novelist Will Self, and pro vice-chancellor of Kingston University Penny Sparke.
The 2011 furniture category’s winner is the Branca Chair by Industrial Facility, with a design that draws on the growth of tree branches and was created using both robotic and handcraft processes.
Winner of best product is the Plumen 001, a low-energy light bulb by Hulger that uses 80 per cent less energy and lasts eight times longer than incandescent bulbs. The name comes from ‘plume’ – birds’ decorative feathers designed to attract attention to their prowess and beauty, which Hulgen believes its designs also do.
Architecture category winner is the Open Air Library, Magdeburg by Karo Architects. This open-allhours library began life in 2005 as a temporary installation made of beer crates. The architects reused a facade from an old warehouse to complete the structure.
The overall winner will be named on 15 March. A list of all the shortlisted entries can be found at www. designmuseum.org, and they are on display at the Design Museum until 7 August.
