BE OPEN Awards Shortlist Announced

Nine talented young designers go forward to the finals of the BE OPEN Awards, which will be presented as part of the think tank’s activities during the 2012 London Design Festival.

“BE OPEN is about ‘intellectual development’, investing in the creation of added value for future generations. Our programmes are about generating original thinking from the most promising young minds of our time”, said Elena Baturina, founder of BE OPEN.

The winners were selected by a prestigious design industry jury, presided over by Patricia Urquiola (designer and architect), with Tom Cheshire (WIRED magazine associate editor), Daniel Charny (independent curator and director at From Now On), Pei-Ru Keh (design editor of Wallpaper magazine), Vladimir Pirojkov (designer), Noma Bar (graphic artist), Christopher Turner (editor of ICON magazine) and William Knight (100% Design event director).  A shortlist of nine has been whittled down from over 300 submissions from 47 countries, including Afghanistan, Cuba, Ireland, South Africa, Iran, Uzbekistan, Lebanon and Vietnam.  A winner will be selected in each of the three categories of CAST, FORM, and CITY, with the emphasis being on projects that show strong creative thinking, with the potential to become must-have designs for the future.

The shortlisted work will be showcased on the BE OPEN stand in the international section of 100% Design as part of BE OPEN TO THE SOUND OF THE FUTURE, the think tank’s umbrella theme for their presence at the 2012 London Design Festival.

The shortlist is:

CAST finalists

ALEXANDRE KHARAKOZ/United Kingdom

  • Sonic Landscape

DAN ORLOVSKY/Russia

  • Moscow-Constructivism

ESZTER OZSVALD/USA

  • SymbiosisO

CITY finalists

ANNA KULIK/Russia

  • STONE SPRAY

CHAK MING SIN/Hong Kong

  • EVAPORATIVE COOLING CAPILLARY

CHUNG WO CHAU/Hong Kong

  • INFLECTED MASSING

FORM finalists

BERNIER SAMUEL/Canada

  • PROJECT RE_

ERAN GAL-OR/Israel

  • POETIC MACHINE – 3D PRINTING PORCELAIN

TAEWAN KIM/South Korea

  • GREEN BUMP

This is the second iteration of the awards scheme that launched in Milan in April 2012.

See http://beopenfuture.com/thegardenofwonders/awards/be-open-awards-milan/