Since the 1940s Denmark has been a powerhouse of modern design. Masters like Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner, Verner Panton created designs so iconic that they’re almost inescapable in this Northern European country where quality craftsmanship is valued far above quantity. In fact, it’s common for families in this area to invest in one or two pieces of fine modernist furniture. So when city officials in Copenhagen wanted to come up with something to put the city on the contemporary map, they hit easily on the idea of a design competition, which eventually became a ‘design for life’ competition.
This is the second INDEX:Awards , a competition that focuses on design that makes life better, rather than just more beautiful. The hope is that the substantial 100,000 pound award will allow recipients in five categories—Body, Home, Work, Play and Community—to develop their prototype and actually bring their potentially life-changing products to market. Memorable award winners from the first of the biennial awards in 2005 include: the LifeStraw which makes water potable through a simple sucking mechanism—now available for institutional purchase; molo’s softwall—a 2003 Metropolis Next Generation runner-up; and Architecture for Humanity. This year’s winners, announced on August 24th, are a diverse group. There is a prosthetic foot that mimics the movement of our toes in relation to our body, a portable water purification bottle, a simple suction device meant for first-aid kits that will unblock and unconscious person’s airway, a sexy roadster that happens to be a high-performance electronic car, and a low-cost laptop for the world’s poorest children.
Judges for the award included MOMA curator Paola Antonelli, designer Hella Jongerius, Nille Juule-Sorensen, Associate Director of Arup. Besides the cash prize, winners were also awarded a surprising mix of classic Danish objects, including a Georg Jensen “pregnant duck” pitcher and a Royal Copenhagen soup tureen. Perhaps most coveted was the award given to people’s choice winner Han Pham, a Singaporean-Danish designer who created a device to dispose of used needles, preventing people from retrieving them and reusing them: a red Arne Jacobsen egg chair.
Winning Entries:
Mobility for Each One
Category: Body
A low-cost artificial foot that provides agility to landmine victims designed by Sébastien Dubois (Canada).
Tongue Sucker
Category: Work
A simple and effective life saving device designed by Philip Greer, Lisa Stroux, Graeme Davies & Chris Huntley (United Kingdom)
Solar Bottle
Category: Home
The bottle disinfects dirty water to prevent diseases designed by Alberto Meda & Francisco Gomez Paz (Italy)
XO Laptop
Category: Community
$176 laptop which makes learning more accessible to third world countries designed by Rebecca Allen, Christopher Blizzard, V. Michael Bove, Yves Behar, Walter Bender, Michail Bletsas, Mark Foster, Jacques Gagne, Mary Lou Jepsen, Nicholas Negroponte & Lisa Strausfeld (United States)
Tesla Roadster
Category: Play
A major breakthrough in electric cars by Elon Musk, Chairman of Tesla Motors, Tesla CEO Martin Eberhard and Barney Hatt, principal stylist at Lotus Design Studios (United States)
Antivirus
Category: People’s Choice
A cap to help prevent needle-stick injuries and diseases designed by Hân Pham (Denmark)
To see more of INDEX:Awards’ 337 entries nominated by the world’s leading design institutions, see our slideshow.
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