TOKYO, Japan (January 29, 2020) - Today Lexus announced the six finalists for the 2020 Lexus Design Award, who will receive mentorship from renowned design leaders and funding of up to 3,000,000 yen (over $25,000 US) to create prototypes of their projects. The finalists represent the United States, China, Europe, Pakistan and Kenya and were selected from a record-setting group of 2,042 submissions from 79 countries. Now in its eighth year, the Lexus Design Award provides a unique platform for young creators to demonstrate and further develop their talents. The proposals were selected based on their expression of three key principles of the Lexus brand: Anticipate, Innovate, and Captivate, with an emphasis on design that leads to a better tomorrow.
FINALISTS FOR LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2020 ANNOUNCED
BIO.SCALES
SUTHERLIN SANTOS - USA
Bio.Scales are biopolymer filters made from natural, ecologically engaged materials designed to remove carbon and other harmful compounds from the air. This modular, 3D printed system is reconfigurable and adaptable, providing improved air quality to any living space.
Paul and Garrett Sutherlin Santo are designers from Downtown Los Angeles. Their work seeks to project a future where design’s connection to nature and technology are symmetrical by exploring the relationship of emerging digital processes, ecologically engaged materials, and traditional craft.
FELTSCAPE
THÉOPHILE PEJU & SALVATORE CICERO (THÉOPHILE PEJU (FRANCE), SALVATORE CICERO (ITALY)) - BASED IN UNITED KINGDOM
Feltscape is a breathing cloud made from felt and thermoplastic that captures noise and customizes interior acoustic and lighting qualities. Feltscape is the result of an innovative fabrication process that combines haute couture techniques and robotic additive manufacturing.
Théophile Peju & Salvatore Cicero are architectural designers based in London. They graduated from the Bartlett School of Architecture – UCL, where they pursued research on textile composite materials. Their design approach, through hands-on experience, combines traditional craftsmanship and innovative robotic fabrication techniques.
FLASH PAK
YAOKUN WU - CHINA / BASED IN USA
Flash Pak is a smart survival apparatus like a life jacket that guides students to safety in flash floods via a haptic navigation system with LED lights. It inflates to become a flotation device alone but also can be strapped to other Flash Paks to keep the group together like a raft.
Yaokun Wu is an industrial design student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He feels grateful for everything he has and wishes to use design to help people who need it most. He believes design is everywhere, but only that which brings people warmth will never be forgotten.
LICK
IRINA SAMOILOVA - RUSSIA
Lick is a portable body cleaner which will help people who are unable to use a bath. The device has a cleaning surface like a cat’s tongue similar to how cats clean their body from impurities.
Irina Samoilova is a product & furniture designer. She is currently studying for a master's degree at Moscow State Stroganov Academy of Design and Applied Art in the furniture design department. Before starting a new design, she first studies animal shapes and how such forms already work in nature.
OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITIES
BELTOWER - (JOHN BRIAN KAMAU, JOYCE WAIRIMU GACHIRI, IAN GITHEGI KAMAU, ESTHER WANJIKU KAMAU AND ARVIN BOOKER KAMAU)
Open Source Communities is a proposal outlining an efficient way of designing communities in developing countries based on using smart open-source plans. The designers endeavor to see how these designs may be refined for adaptability to create connected homes that are sustainable.
BellTower was established in 2014 with the vision of using open source systems and technologies to solve problems. They came together to create a team with skills in Risk Management, Information Technology, Design, Project Management and Strategy to build an open-source community model for personal, corporate and industrial needs.
PURSEWIT
AQSA AJMAL - PAKISTAN
The Pursewit has a sleek new design that just invites you to sew! By simplifying sewing machine use for the visually impaired, operation is made more intuitive and tactile, enhancing the cumbersome process of sewing.
Aqsa Ajmal, Industrial Designer, graduated from National University of Sciences and Technology. She is steered by her belief in design as a problem-solving tool, devising relationships between ideas and reality. Through her tangible interaction and firsthand experiments in design, she looks forward to improving connections between people and products.
According to technologist and Lexus Design Award 2020 judge John Maeda, “this year’s Lexus Design Award finalists speak to two main themes: consciousness and the environment, which are increasingly relevant as technological progress impacts our world. As design projects they go beyond just asking questions to provide concrete answers based on innovative reasoning and practiced opinions on engineering. Narrowing the massive list of entries down to the small set of representative works was not a simple task. But working with jurors like Jeanne Gang and Paola Antonelli made the task easy given their broad range of knowledge about transformative design projects. I offered my technology and business perspective to question both engineering and financial viability. In the end I think we found the right set of captivating projects to represent the themes of mind and body that are critical to our future.”
In January the six finalists traveled to New York City for a life-changing workshop experience, engaging in a dialogue with four acclaimed mentors: Joe Doucet, Bethan Gray, Philippe Malouin and Shohei Shigematsu, each offering their own distinctive wisdom and expertise. The workshop had taken place at INTERSECT BY LEXUS-NYC, the brand’s unique lifestyle space.
This workshop kicks off an ongoing interaction between finalists and mentors leading up to the judging session in Italy, during Milan Design Week*. In the context of this major event on the global design calendar, finalists will present their completed prototypes to the world and one will be selected by the esteemed judging panel of Paola Antonelli, Jeanne Gang, John Maeda, and Simon Humphries during the competition’s Grand Prix event.
