The awards are conferred by the Chicago Athenaeum together with The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Stone Forest’s Moso Bamboo Vessel is a durable and water-resistant bamboo bathroom sink and it was considered the best and most advanced product in its category, which included hundreds of submissions.
The sink is created by removing the soft interior of bamboo and leaving the hard exterior to be laminated. It is an eco-friendly product made with entirely renewable Moso bamboo and without using harsh chemical sealants.
More than 500 products were reviewed by a panel of judges made up of an international group of design experts and professionals.
The Chicago Athenaeum vice president, Ioannis Karalias, said: “The 2008 jury was most interested in designs for sustainability and for environmental concerns.”
The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies director, Kieran Conlon, said: “Despite the global economic slowdown more and more world manufacturers and their designers are realizing that design provides a pivotal edge in keeping global products competitive; and combined with sustainability, social and ecological responsibility, and green design, this year’s Good Design program demonstrates how smart companies and smart designers will design their way out of recession.”
Founded in Chicago in 1950 by architects Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, and Edgar Kaufmann Jr, Good Design’s intention is to bestow international recognition upon the world’s most prominent designers and manufacturers for advancing new, visionary, and innovative product concepts, invention and originality, and to stretch the envelope beyond what is considered basic product and consumer design.
All winning designs from the awards can be viewed at the Museum’s website: www.chi-athenaeum.org, and all products and graphics will be exhibited at The Chicago Athenaeum in the 2009 Good Design Show in June, 2009.
