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.
Architecture winner: London 2012 Velodrome, London, UK
Digital winner: Microsoft Kinect and Kinect SDK, UK and USA by Microsoft Games Studios, Microsoft Research Xbox
Fashion winner: Issey Miyake 132.5 collection, Tokyo, Japan by Miyake Design Studio
Furniture winner: 1.3 balsa wood chair, London, UK by Kihyun Kim
Graphics winner: Nokia Pure Font, London, UK by Dalton Maag
Transport winner: Re-design for Emergency Ambulance, London, UK
Architecture nominee: Folly for a Flyover, London, UK (Assemble supported by The Bank of America Merrill Lynch CREATE Art Award)
Architecture nominee: Guangzhou Opera House, Guangzhou, China by Zaha Hadid
Architecture nominee: Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield, UK by David Chipperfield
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
Fashion nominee: Mary Katrantzou A/W 2011 collection, London, UK by Mary Katrantzou
Furniture nominee: Chassis chair, Munich, Germany by Stefan Diez
Furniture nominee: Hemp Chair, Berlin, Germany by Werner Aisslinger
Furniture nominee: Lightwood chair, London, UK by Jasper Morrison
Furniture nominee: Moon Rock Tables, London, UK by Bethan Laura Wood
Furniture nominee: Oak Inside, Rotterdam, Netherlands by Christien Meindertsma
Furniture nominee: Osso Chair, Paris, France by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
Furniture nominee: Textile Field at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec in collaboration with Kvadrat, Denmark
Furniture nominee: Tip Ton, London, UK by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby for Vitra
Furniture nominee: Waver chair, Munich, Germany by Konstantin Gricic
Graphics nominee: Cut it Out, London, UK by Noma Bar
Graphics nominee: Photo-Lettering, Yorklyn, USA by House Industries
Product nominee: Ascent, London, UK by Barber Osgerby for Haunch of Venison
Product nominee: Botanic, Eindhoven, Netherlands by Studio Formafantasma
Product nominee: pq Eyewear, by Ron A-frame line and Corbs line by Ron Arad
Product nominee: Shade, London, UK by Simon Heijdens
Product nominee: TMA-1 Headphones by KIBiSi
Product nominee: Totem, London, UK by Bethan Laura Wood and Pietro Viero
Transport nominee: 787 Dreamliner by Boeing
ADDRESS
The Design Museum
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