Olympic Torch wins Design of the Year award

Barber Osgerby have won the UK creative industry's gold medal - the Design Museum's Design of the Year award - for their Olympic Torch, also picking up the Product Award. Other category winners include...

(Image credit: Barber Osgerby)

By Lauren Ho

last updated 27 October 2022

in News

Design duo Barber Osgerby have beaten everyone to the finishing line, scooping the Design of the Year 2012 at last night’s Design Museum awards ceremony for their Olympic Torch, fighting off competition from the likes of architecture firm Foster + Partners, and fashion designer Mary Katrantzou.

Britain's current Olympic mania may have given the pair a push in the right direction but their flame-burner – which also picked up the Product Award – rightly wins praise for its supremely functional, lightweight form, striking aesthetic and the advanced technology used to create it. The torch is crafted from an aluminium alloy, developed for the aerospace and automotive industries and features 8,000 holes (representing the number of people who will carry it), created using a new laser-cutting technology called Fire on the Fly.

In five short years, the annual awards have become a prestigious celebration showcasing the cream of the creative crop. They span seven diverse categories (with nominees and winners currently on display at the Design Museum until 4 July) ranging from transport to graphics and digital. Category winners this year included Hopkins Architects for their London 2012 Velodrome, which secured the Architecture Award, and RCA Graduate, Kihyun Kim, who won the Furniture Award for his balsa wood chair.

The esteemed panel of judges included our very own editor-at-large, Henrietta Thompson, culture pundits Evgeny Lebedev and Sir George Iacobescu, as well as Dutch designer Hella Jongerius.

Many of the winners and nominees have graced Wallpaper* print and web pages this year, including the Olympic Torch and David Chipperfield's Hepworth Wakefield (winner of our 'best new public building' Design Award), which shows that great minds think alike when it comes to spotlighting the best design.

Image of London 2012 Velodrome — **Architecture winner:** London 2012 Velodrome, London, UK

Image of Kinect SDK — **Digital winner:** Microsoft Kinect and Kinect SDK, UK and USA by Microsoft Games Studios, Microsoft Research Xbox

Image of 132.5 collection — **Fashion winner:** Issey Miyake 132.5 collection, Tokyo, Japan by Miyake Design Studio

Image of 1.3 balsa wood chair — **Furniture winner:** 1.3 balsa wood chair, London, UK by Kihyun Kim

Image of Nokia Pure Font — **Graphics winner:** Nokia Pure Font, London, UK by Dalton Maag

Image of Re-design for Emergency Ambulance — **Transport winner:** Re-design for Emergency Ambulance, London, UK

Image of Flyover — **Architecture nominee:** Folly for a Flyover, London, UK (Assemble supported by The Bank of America Merrill Lynch CREATE Art Award)

Image of Guangzhou Opera House — **Architecture nominee:** Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China by Zaha Hadid

Image of Hepworth Wakefield — **Architecture nominee:** Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK by David Chipperfield

Image of Maggies Centre — **Architecture nominee:** Maggies Centre, Glasgow, UK by OMA

Architecture nominee: Spaceport America, New Mexico by Foster Partners
Photography: Nigel Young. Courtsey: Foster Partners

Architecture nominee: The Iron Market, Port-au-Prince, Haiti by John McAslan Partners

Fashion nominee: Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, New York, USA by Andrew Bolton with the support of Harold Koda of The Costume Institute, New York USA
Photography: Sølve Sundsbø

Image of Mary Katrantzou A/W 2011 collection — **Fashion nominee:** Mary Katrantzou A/W 2011 collection, London, UK by Mary Katrantzou

Image of Chassis chair — **Furniture nominee:** Chassis chair, Munich, Germany by Stefan Diez

Image of Hemp Chair — **Furniture nominee:** Hemp Chair, Berlin, Germany by Werner Aisslinger

Image of Lightwood chair — **Furniture nominee:** Lightwood chair, London, UK by Jasper Morrison

Image of Moon Rock Tables — **Furniture nominee:** Moon Rock Tables, London, UK by Bethan Laura Wood

Image of Oak Inside, Rotterdam — **Furniture nominee:** Oak Inside, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Christien Meindertsma

Image of Osso Chair — **Furniture nominee:** Osso Chair, Paris, France by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec

Image of Textile Field at the Victoria and Albert Museum — **Furniture nominee:** Textile Field at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in collaboration with Kvadrat, Denmark

Image of Tip Ton — **Furniture nominee:** Tip Ton, London, UK by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby for Vitra

Image of Waver chair — **Furniture nominee:** Waver chair, Munich, Germany by Konstantin Gricic

Image of Cut it Out by Noma Bar — **Graphics nominee:** Cut it Out, London, UK by Noma Bar

Image of Photo-Lettering — **Graphics nominee:** Photo-Lettering, Yorklyn, USA by House Industries

Image of Ascent by Barber Osgerby — **Product nominee:** Ascent, London, UK by Barber Osgerby for Haunch of Venison

Image of Botanic, Eindhoven — **Product nominee:** Botanic, Eindhoven, Netherlands by Studio Formafantasma

Image of pq Eyewear — **Product nominee:** pq Eyewear, by Ron A-frame line and Corbs line by Ron Arad

Image of Shade by Simon Heijdens — **Product nominee:** Shade, London, UK by Simon Heijdens

Image of TMA-1 Headphones — **Product nominee:** TMA-1 Headphones by KIBiSi

Image of Totem by Bethan Laura Wood — **Product nominee:** Totem, London, UK by Bethan Laura Wood and Pietro Viero

Image of 787 Dreamliner — **Transport nominee:** 787 Dreamliner by Boeing

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Lauren Ho is the Travel Director of Wallpaper*, roaming the globe, writing extensively about luxury travel, architecture and design for both the magazine and the website. Lauren serves as the European Academy Chair for the World's 50 Best Hotels.

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