It’s the green, eco-centric, sustainable and environmentally sound projects that have really caught our eye at this year’s Hong Kong Design Centre’s Design for Asia Awards. A particular favourite was the Panyaden School, south of Chiang Mai in Thailand, designed by the Netherlands’ 24H-architecture. Ticking all the boxes with sustainable architecture, rammed-earth walls, thermal mass insulation and bamboo cladding, it received the HKDC Grand Award.
Another was the architecturally lush Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore, designed by British outfit Wilkinson Eyre and landscape architects Grant Associates. It comprises an impressive copse of tree-shaped towers, shell-shaped greenhouses and a 30m-high man-made waterfall, all connected by 20m-high bridges.
And we were genuinely wowed by the chapel at the Palace Hotel Tokyo, which re-opened back in May after a dramatic $1.2 billion reconstruction. The brainchild of Japanese architect Yuji Hirata, the hotel’s wedding chapel – serene, contemporary, karmically sensitive, atypical and enchanting – is the perfect example of modern design in the Far East.
Organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre, a publicly funded, non-profit organisation established in 2001 with the support of the design industry, the annual awards are presented to, not just local architectural talent such as Hirata,
The Oval Partnership or Look Architects, but also designers and brands from around the world that have achieved business success through design that reflects or impacts on the Asian lifestyle.
The aims of the award are manifold but simple: to establish Hong Kong as a centre of design excellence in Asia; to raise the city’s profile as a design hub of creativity and innovation; to drive value and creation through design and innovation; and to promote and celebrate design excellence. All of this with a view to increasing the resourcefulness of Hong Kong’s designers, businesses and people.
The panel of judges selects winners from 18 categories, including product design, communication, apparel and environmental design. This year, the standard is higher and more diverse than ever, ranging from designer labels to small independents and handmade designs, big buildings to simple household products, and shamelessly luxurious to ingeniously practical. Now in its tenth year and a central part of Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week, the HKDC awards continue to show the world that the East is still rising.
Design for Asia 2003 - 2012
The evolution of Asia's leading design awards
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Hong Kong Design Centre’s Design for Asia Awards (DFA) has become a hotbed of local talent. Having started in 2003 by selecting innovative brands available in the region in order to identify ‘good design in Asia’, DFA then shifted its focus to homegrown talent, before more recently considering the specificities of Asian design, from hi-tech mobile phones and websites to low-cost bridges for rural areas.
The number of entries has grown from only 130 in 2003, to over 800 in 2012 – a clear sign of the awards’ success. The Hong Kong Design Centre’s other activities to encourage discussions on local design include publishing a variety of material and organizing seminars and lectures on design, culture and creativity.
Raas Jodhpur hotel, Rajasthan, by The Lotus Praxis Initiative, India
Daikanyama T-Site bookstore, Tokyo, by Klein Dytham Architecture, Japan
'Ingenuity Follows Nature: a poster exhibition of Asian designers and Tong Yang-Tze's calligraphy', Taipei, by Freeimage Design, Taiwan
Palace Hotel Tokyo chapel, by Nomura, Japan
Revitalization of the Former Magazine building, Hong Kong, by Asia Society Hong Kong Center (Special Award for Culture)
Gardens by the Bay, Bay South, Singapore, by Grant Associates, UK (Grand & Special Award for Technology)
Pacific Place, Hong Kong, by Heatherwick Studio, UK
Panyaden School, Thailand, by 24H-architecture, The Netherlands
Soil Cave House, western China, by Environmental Design Association of China Artists Association (Special Award for Sustainability)
'GXR' digital camera, by Ricoh, Japan
Palace Hotel Tokyo chapel, by Nomura, Japan
'GXR' digital camera, by Ricoh, Japan
A House For All Seasons, Shaanxi, by John Lin, Hong Kong
Panyaden School, Thailand, by 24H-architecture, The Netherlands
Louis Vuitton Forest Box perfume and CD set, by N G Inc, Japan
From left: 'Higashishimogumi No Suika Toh' watermelon sugar packaging, by Kuroyanagi Jun, Japan; 'Lucano' stepladder by Hasegawa Kogyo Co, Japan
'Praise of Bamboo' tea tray set, by Dragonfly Design Centre, China
'Forms of Words on Heaven and Earth' posters, by Han Jiaying Design & Associates, China
15-inch Mac Book Pro with Retina display, by Apple, US
'Nomad' portable solar light system, by O-Sun, Hong Kong
'Abak Exchange' desk, by Herman Miller Asia Pacific, Hong Kong
'50s News' gift paper, by Jesvin Yeo and Alvin Ng, Singapore
The World of 100 Postcards, by Toby Ng Design, Hong Kong
Integer Bamboo House, Kunming, by The Oval Partnership, China
'Gum Plus' mobile charger, by Just Mobile, Taiwan
'Sealed' watch, by Boat, Hong Kong
Booth for Eco Products 2011 trade fair, by Fairwood Partners and Nomura, Japan
'Pico Pix' pocket projector, by Philips Design, The Netherlands
Forest Chapel, Takasaki, by Hironaka Ogawa and Associates, Japan
Interactive photo-wall for La Salle College 80th Anniversary Heritage exhibition by Noiseless Design, Hong Kong
From left: 'Uonuma Teguri Soba Kai Un San Getsu' soba noodle packaging by Kuroyanagi Jun, Japan; 'Origend' glasses, by TreAsia Design, Taiwan
From left: 'Air' vase, by Torafu Architects, Japan; 'Arcitone' spot light, by Philips Design, The Netherlands
Pacific Place, Hong Kong by Heatherwick Studio, UK
Punggol Promenade, Singapore, by Look Architects, Singapore
Yingjia Club, Beijing, by Neri & Hu Design and Research Office, China
Book Wagon mobile library for assistance to affected areas, by 6D-K, Japan
Dragon tangram packaging, by Xue Xue Institute, Taiwan
Hour 25: HKU Architecture Vol I Papers, by HOUR25, Hong Kong
'Hug Japan' brand identity, by Tripod Design, Japan
From left: 'Link Socket-Plug-and-Link' power strip, by Chun Hing Business Development,
Hong Kong; Newborn baby gift set, by Aeru, Japan
'Ingenuity / nature' posters by 84000 Communications Limited, Hong Kong
Soil Cave House, western China, by Environmental Design Association of China Artists Association
Design Leadership Award: Carlos Ghosn, Japan
Design Leadership Award: Carlos Ghosn, Japan
CEO of both Renault and Nissan, responsible for more than one in ten cars sold worldwide, Carlos Ghosn has been dubbed ‘the ultimate rock star of the motoring business’. Famous for turning around Nissan’s fortunes after near bankruptcy, Ghosn is best known as the man behind the groundbreaking, zero-emissions Nissan Leaf
Design Leadership Award: Carlos Ghosn, Japan
World's Outstanding Chinese Designer Award: Anthony Lo, France
World's Outstanding Chinese Designer Award: Anthony Lo, France
Former director of advanced design at General Motors Europe, now Renault’s exterior design vice president, Anthony Lo makes truly spectacular cars. Taking credit for the Saab Aero X concept and a new Renault Alpine sports car, this Royal College of Art Vehicle Design graduate is the Far East’s answer to Sergio Pininfarina
World's Outstanding Chinese Designer Award: Anthony Lo, France
DFA Lifetime Achievement Award: Henry Steiner, Hong Kong
Since 1975 Austrian graphic designer Henry Steiner has designed banknotes for Hong Kong’s Standard Chartered Bank, the latest incarnations showcasing amphibious, aquatic, terrestrial, and celestial creatures. He has also created some of the world’s most identifiable corporate identities, for the likes of IBM, Hilton, HSBC, and Unilever
DFA Lifetime Achievement Award: Henry Steiner, Hong Kong
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