Collection by Olivia Martin
Contenders for Designs of the Year Announced
The Design Museum in London recently released its 90 nominations for the Designs of the Year across seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, products, and transportation. The exhibition will run at the The Design Museum from March 20-July 7 and features the best designs from 2012. From The Shard, Renzo Piano's new addition to the London skyline to costumes from Anna Karenina to Australian cigarette packaging, these designs show that ingenuity is thriving throughout all creative disciplines. Because it is 2013, we felt it was only appropriate to show 13 nominations in the slideshow that follows.
Architecture: Book Mountain, Spijkenisse, the NetherlandsFor optimum browsing, a veritable mountain of bookshelves created by MVRDV houses over a quarter mile of passages through the structure. Perched at the top is a reading room and cafe area with panoramic views through the transparent roof. Photo by Jeroen Musch.
Architecture: The Shard, LondonRenzo Piano’s London skyscraper is currently the tallest building in Western Europe at over one thousand feet high.
Architecture: Four Freedoms Park, New YorkDesigned by Louis Kahn in the late 1960s to transform Roosevelt Island (then called Welfare Island) into a vibrant, residential pocket in the city, FOur Freedoms park was just opened to visitors in 2012. Photo by Paul Warchol.
Digital: Raspberry PI ComputerEben Upton invented this device out of a concern for the amount of students applying to read Computer Sciences each year at the University of Cambridge. Photo by Paul Beech.
Digital: Light Field CameraThe Lytro Light Field Camera records the entire light field, rather than a 2D image, which allows users to refocus pictures after they have taken them.
Fashion: Anna Karenina CostumesCostume designer Jacqueline Durran used two million dollar’s worth of Chanel diamonds and vintage inspired dresses throughout the filmic adaptation of Tolstoy's classic novel.
Furniture: Liquid Glacial TableZaha Hadid's table appears to undulate in subtle waves and ripples created by the embedded surface complexity and refraction within the design. Photo by Jacopo Spilimbergo.
Furniture: Gravity StoolDesigner Jolan Van Der Wiel developed a “magnet machine” in which he positions magnetic fields to manipulate metal shavings, letting gravity determine the shape of the stool.
Furniture: CornichesThe Bouroullec brothers developed the idea for Corniches out of a need for small storage space for small items. Meant to better utilize horizontal surfaces, the Corniches are designed to be isolated protrusions in the home environment.
Product: Oigen KitchenwareIn honor of the message generated by the Japan earthquake and tsunami that material affluence is not true wealth in life and Japan’s history of producing simple designs, Japan Creative and Jasper Morrison have created a series of minimalist cast-iron products. Photo by Jasper Morrison Studios.
Fashion: Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to TravelDirected by Lisa Immordino, this documentary features 350 illustrations, interviews with models and photographers, and more as it traces the invention of modern fashion. Photo by Mark Riboud.
Architecture: Galaxy Soho, Beijing, ChinaZaha Hadid's creation merges five continuous volumes to create open spaces within the larger structure that houses offices, retail, and an entertainment complex. Photo by Hufton and Crow.