Winners of the German Design Award 2018 are just being announced and include Spanish lighting companies LZF Lamps, Vibia and Faro Barcelona, workplace and contract furniture firm Actiu, bedroom furniture enterprise Muebles JJP and urban equipment brand Benito Urban.
Banga lamps and the Stitches collection by LZF Lamps won awards in the lighting category. A pendant lamp designed by Yonoh studio, Banga is made from individual pieces of wood veneer linked together with gleaming metal strips, giving it the air of an elegant Asian parasol. The Stitches series has been created by Egbert-Jan Lam of Burojet studio, who has designed and “embroidered” this lamp collection in wood veneer, using a technique similar to sewing. A particular feature of this family of luminaires is the external stitching with pleats on the outside of the lamp so that light shines through the stitches. Their four models Mopti, Timbuktu, Djenné and Bamako get their names from cities in Mali. The shapes are an allusion to the country’s many mosques.
Faro Barcelona also wins two awards for Bu-Oh, in the lighting category, with a special mention from the jury and for the pendant version of Mine. The outdoor beacon and appliqué series Bu-Oh is signed by design studio Estudi Ribaudí and produces a warm light that shines out on four sides imitating the enigmatic gaze of an owl. Mine is a series of Nordic-look table and suspension lamps designed by the Nahtrang studio which combines natural wood with opal glass. Finally, Guise collection designed by Stefan Diez and Palma lights by Antoni Arola for Vibia has also won awards in the lighting category.
In the office furniture category, TNK Flex chair, designed by Alegre Design for Actiu was also an award winner. The prize pays tribute to TNK Flex’s added-value design. Operational and directional, the high-tech chair automatically adjusts to the user’s back movements without the need to activate any mechanism. In the furniture section, the bed from NOOK teen bedroom, designed by Carlos Tíscar for Muebles JJP was another of the winners. With its sturdy structure, the bed can be fitted with an endless variety of accessories, ranging from headboards to containers, desks, shelves, curtains and mirrors or even units designed to hold bicycles, books and videogames. These add-ons give the bedroom that special personal touch. In the “Public Design” category, award-winning Citizen is a bench designed by Eugeni Quitllet for Benito Urban.
German Design Award is one of the top design accolades in Germany and brings winners international prestige. At this edition, the 45 leading designers and industry representatives on the jury at this international product design and communications competition awarded prizes in 50 categories to more than 3,400 candidates from all over the world. The award ceremony will take place at a gala on 9 February organised to coincide with trade show Ambiente in Frankfurt, Germany