Interior Motives Student Design Awards 2009
Awards ceremony 16 September
Cocoon Club, Frankfurt, Germany
"Charm and wit, combined with responsibility and sensitivity to our world, is a theme that runs throughout the talented class of 2009"
Peter Stevens describing the designs from this year's finalists.
Frankfurt, 16 September 2009: The automotive design community celebrated the industry’s top future designers at a glamorous awards ceremony during the Frankfurt motor show this evening. An alpine sports vehicle from Coventry University student Philip Woodman was selected as the best overall in this year’s Interior Motives Design Awards.
Best Conceptual Interior sponsored by Technicon Design
(l-r): Philip Woodman, Coventry University (Winner); Wang Xi, Tsinghua University; Scott Hartley, Coventry University
Woodman’s concept vehicle made a huge impression on the expert judging panel. Design chief for auto interiors at GM Europe, John Puskar, described it as a "beautiful use of form vocabulary”. Wally Yachts design director, Adriana Monk, formerly with Jaguar, identified its "elegant, modern, precise interior with an overall harmony".
Hundreds of students from dozens of design schools submitted entries to the Awards competition, now in its seventh year. The finalists for each of the eight specific awards categories assembled in Frankfurt’s renowned Cocoon Club, and included students at colleges in Canada, China, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UK and USA.
Hosting the Awards ceremony, Peter Stevens (Maclaren F1 road car and Lotus Elan among others) commented:
“To my great pleasure the work on show tonight challenges the ‘grey hairs’ of the industry and fills me with optimistic delight. Charm and wit, combined with responsibility and sensitivity to our world, is a theme that runs throughout the talented class of 2009.”
Just three designs from the judges' shortlists were finalists for each of the awards. These three were presented to the audience in Frankfurt stage and the winning design for each award then revealed:
Best Safety Innovation sponsored by Johnson Controls
(l-r): Martin Willers, Anton Östebo and Richard Stark, Umea Institute of Design (Winners); Alexei Mikhailov Humber College; Nicolas de Peyer, Lehigh University
Best Eco Design sponsored by Retro Concepts
(l to r): David Seesing, Miika Heikkinen, Mårten Wallgren, Royal College of Art (Winners); Wenyu Zhang, Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University; Zhao Jin, Tsinghua University
Best Innovation sponsored by Volkswagen
(l to r): Yoon jin Choi, Kyung Hwan Ban, Jung Han, Chung-Ang University (Winners); Anthony Jannarelly, Coventry University; Jukka Rautiainen, Royal College of Art
Best Lifestyle Interior sponsored by Stile Bertone
(l to r): Brian Petersen, The Cleveland Institute of Art (Winner); Juyeon Jang, Hongik University; Zdenek Borysek, Vysoka Skola Vytvarnych Umeni
Best Production Interior sponsored by Semcon
(l to r): Eduardo Javier Povarchik, 9Zeros (Winner); Bob Romkes, Royal College of Art; Philip Woodman, Coventry University
Best use of Technology sponsored by Volkswagen
(l to r): Yoon jin Choi, Kyung Hwan Ban, Jung Han, Chung-Ang University (Winners); Scott Hartley, Coventry University; Wan Ryeol Son, Umea Institute of Design
Best Conceptual Exterior sponsored by Autodesk
(l to r): Bob Romkes, Royal College of Art (Winner); Gyuwon Shim, Coventry University; Augustin Barbot, Royal College of Art
Design briefs This year's theme was 'Sustainable and Clever', and four briefs were set against which students were asked to work. Their design was then submitted into one of the Awards categories.
Selecting the shortlist From hundreds of entries from dozens of design schools across the globe, the shortlist is compiled from all the entries which receive at least one vote from one judge. The judges work individually in the quiet of their own studios in their locations in different parts of the world. The identity of the work they are reviewing is hidden behind a code number, so the images and, often crucially, the explanation, are all that can be assessed.
Down to sets of three In each of the entry categories, the three shortlisted entries with the most votes then become the finalists. Each of these students, and a friend, is invited to attend the Awards Ceremony in Frankfurt. In a night which mixes the cream of the professional design community with the excitement of the students, the work of the finalists is displayed on boards and on screen.
The winner is... The winner in each category is announced, and a trophy and cash prize are awarded. And then, as the ultimate accolade, all of the winners have been re-assessed by the judges and just one rated as outstanding, who becomes The Interior Motives Student Designer of the Year.
For more info: http://www.interiormotivesawards.com
