Donald Ingber and Dan Dongeun Huh – of Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering – have won the 2015 Design Museum Design of the Year Award, for their ‘Organs-on-Chips’ medical microdevices.
The duo’s entry comprises a transparent memory-stick-sized microchip lined with living human cells, which mimic the micro-architecture and functions of whole organs such as the lung, heart and intestine. The eventual aim is to produce ten separate organ chips, which can be linked to accurately mimic the physiology of a whole human body.
The device has the potential to advance personalised medicine, accelerate drug discovery and decrease development costs, while also providing a viable alternative to traditional animal testing. As a bonus, the chip's futurist design is as visually arresting as it is ascetically practical.
It’s the first time a medical design has won the award – which has been running for eight years – and was selected from over 70 nominated works by a jury including Anish Kapoor, architect and Harvard University professor Farshid Moussavi, and fashion journalist Hilary Alexander.
‘One of the most important things about the Design of the Year award is the chance that it gives the museum to explore new territory,' says Deyan Sudjic, the Design Museum’s director. 'The team of scientists that produced this remarkable object don’t come from a conventional design background. But what they have done is clearly a brilliant piece of design.'
Ingber and Dongeun Huh were nominated for the award by Paola Antonelli, MoMA’s senior curator of Architecture and Design, and director of R&D. The project, she explains, is ‘the epitome of design innovation… [an] elegantly beautiful form, arresting concept and pioneering application’.
Paola Antonelli lauded the design's 'elegantly beautiful form, arresting concept and pioneering application’
ADDRESS
Design Museum
28 Shad Thames
London, SE1 2YD
-
Where to eat Thai food in LondonLondon’s best Thai restaurants each offer their own unique spin on the cuisine that push boundaries and present new culinary experiences. Browse our pick of the best
-
We switch on a set of new lighting products designed to entertain, educate and enhanceFrom psychedelic themes to sophisticated LED scenes, here are a dozen high-tech lighting devices to inform, illuminate and re-shape your space
-
The top 10 concept cars of 2024, as selected by Wallpaper’s Transport EditorWe round up our favourite forays into futuristic design with this collection of concepts and design studies showcasing the transport of tomorrow
-
‘I began experimenting and haven’t really stopped,’ Miranda Keyes on working with glassIn a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Miranda Keyes about her forging her own path to success
-
Feldspar makes its mark on Whitehall with a festive pop-up at Corinthia HotelDevon-based bone china brand Feldspar makes its first foray into shopkeeping with a pop-up at London’s Corinthia Hotel. Ali Morris speaks with the founders and peeks inside
-
One to Watch: EJM Studio’s stool is inspired by the humble church pewEJM Studio’s ‘Pew’ stool reimagines the traditional British church seating with a modern, eco-conscious twist
-
One to Watch: Family Project’s ‘furniture friends’ are elegant and humorous with lasting emotional valueFamily Project, founded by Francesco Paini, is a London-based design practice drawn to human connection, creating portraiture through furniture and injecting artful expressions into interior spaces
-
‘There are hidden things out there, we just need to look’: Studiomama's stone animals have quirky charmStudiomama founder's Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama sieve the sands of Kent hunting down playful animal shaped stones for their latest collection
-
Martino Gamper creates a joyful tapestry of colour, pattern and eras in an immersive showcase'I'm always interested in what is considered kitsch, what is considered contemporary, what is ugly, what is beautiful—it's a subtle line'. Martino Gamper‘ presents 'Before; After & Beyond’
-
Pierre Jeanneret’s Chandigarh furniture meets South Asian diasporic art in an unusual London exhibitionRajan Bijlani opens a show combining Pierre Jeanneret furniture for the Indian city of Chandigarh with works for sale by six artists of South Asian origin – in his own London townhouse
-
Mud celebrates turning 30 with a new Islington storeTo celebrate its 30th anniversary Mud opens a new Islington store, showcasing its Australian ceramics where beautiful design meets utility
