The Design Museum is the world’s leading museum devoted to architecture and design. Opened in 1989 in Britain, the Design Museum has welcomed five million visitors, enthralled 400,000 school children, staged over 100 exhibitions, established a leading education programme and built an important collection of contemporary design. The Design Museum’s pioneering programme of exhibitions, educational projects and its collection has made it the definitive voice for contemporary design.
Among many interesting agendas of the museum in 2014, “Designs of the Year” has a great importance which gathers together a year of cutting-edge innovation and original talent; showcasing the very best in global Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphic, Product and Transport design. Recently announced, 2014’s nominees include international design stars such as Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Stephen Jones, David Chipperfield and Miuccia Prada, alongside crowd-funded start-ups and student projects. All of the nominated designs go on display at the Design Museum, in an exhibition open from 26 March to 25 August 2014. A distinguished panel of experts chose a winner from each category and one overall winner, to be announced later in the year.
Some of the furniture nominations include;
BODLEIAN LIBRARY CHAIR – Designed by Barber & Osgerby
The three-legged oak chair balances a strong sense of craft heritage with sculptural form and the needs of readers. A strong vertical timber, echoing the spines of books on shelves, forms one of the three legs that attaches to the sled base. Strong but remarkably light, it is only the third new chair developed specifically for the Bodleian since 1756.
IRO – Jo Nagasaka for Established and Sons
Named after the Japanese word for colour, Iro is a family of vibrant yet elegant furniture which remains true to Nagasaka’s minimalistic style, whilst making bold use of brightly coloured resin. The smooth finishing highlights the natural grain of the wood enclosed within the resin.
NEW INTERIOR FOR UNITED NATIONS NORTH DELEGATES’ LOUNGE (NEW YORK) – Designed by Hella Jongerius, together with Rem Koolhaas, Irma Boom, Gabriel Lester and Louise Schouwenberg
At the request of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hella Jongerius formed a high-profile design team for this project – a gift from the Netherlands to the UN. Creating a space of both comfort and professional informality, the team carefully edited the history of the space, retaining some of the iconic Scandinavian designs and creating a new perspective on the works of art already on display.