Design to Improve Life
This fall Copenhagen hosts the world’s biggest design competition, followed by an exhibition of the 112 nominated designs throughout the city.
Denmark is renowned throughout the world for its famous designs from icons such as Arne Jacobsen or companies like Royal Copenhagen, Georg Jensen, Bang & Olufsen, etc. Design today however is much more than aesthetics and luxury goods. It’s about improving life, and Denmark is amongst the front-runners in leading this trend. As a way of celebrating this new purpose and accomplishment, it will host the international INDEX: AWARD.
The award is a Danish initiative sponsored by the Danish government as well as by several private companies. Every second year INDEX: presents five awards in the categories Body, Home, Play, Community and Work. The INDEX: award is the biggest design award in the world with each winner receiving 100,000 EUR. The winning entries represent the finest designs to improve life as selected by the international INDEX: jury on the basis of nominations made by 188 of the world’s leading professional design institutions. Because the focus is on design that improves life, the nominated designs will be evaluated not only in terms of form like most traditional designs, but also specifically with respect to the impact and context of the design and how it actually improves lives.
The five awards will be presented for the second time at an official ceremony on August 24, 2007 in Copenhagen. The last INDEX: awards were given to design icons such as the popular iPod/iTunes and the life saving LifeStraw that helps clean water for just one dollar.
INDEX: AWARD 2007 Exhibition
In addition to the award ceremony, the 112 nominated designs will be on display in a large-scale outdoor exhibition open from August 17th. The exhibition offers an exciting and visionary insight into the solutions created by designers to improve life for people around the world.
Health and environmental sustainability are general themes, but the top nominated designs range from an Arctic research station to American software that helps bank customers build up savings, to a Singaporean initiative for a new approach to eldercare. The designs are in use on all seven continents of the world – or eight, if you include the virtual ‘world’ of top nominated Second Life.
The exhibition will feature designs relevant to all areas of human life from the five award categories, and is expected to be equally inspiring for laymen and professionals young and old.
The exhibition is open to the public from August 17th until September 23rd. Admission will be free of charge.
August 2007